The Hindu Business Line : Growth of students opting for Australia static at 33 pc

Interest about Australia as a destination for higher education has been growing, though slowly. The growth in the number of students opting to study in Australia has been static at 33 per cent for the past two years.

In May 2006, 26,178 enrolments were made for higher studies in Australia compared to 19,621 in May 2005, an increase of 33.4 per cent, according to information available on the Australia Education International Web site.

Mr P. Srieedharan, Chief Executive, Mancomp Overseas Education Consultants Ltd, said that one reason why the growth in student numbers was static was because general employability levels in India has gone up. Most students have offer letters from reputed companies before they leave college, so they delay the post graduation programme.

Though an Australian postgraduate degree would help students in their job search, a number of students are postponing their foreign education while they pick up some work experience, said another consultant.

Students from South India go to Australia for engineering and information technology, while those from Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Delhi go in for an MBA.

Special fares

Airlines flying East bound sectors have come out with special student fares for Down Under.

According to a press release, Singapore Airlines announced a special return fare of Rs 30,000 to key destinations in Australia out of Chennai. This entails a round economy class trip to Sydney/Melbourne/Brisbane/Adelaide.

The offer also includes one-way economy fare of Rs 20,000 to these destinations from Chennai. However, the fares do not include taxes and surcharges as these are additionally charged.

The seasonal fare offers as much as 11 per cent reduction on Singapore Airlines' existing return economy fare and 16 per cent on one-way fare to these Australian destinations.

The current economy fare to these destinations from Chennai is Rs 33,340 for a round trip and Rs 23,340 for one-way trip.

Air New Zealand has also come out with a one-way fare of Rs 22,790 from Chennai to Singapore and onward to Auckland or Wellington. The airline has a baggage allowance of 40 kg. Passengers can connect through Singapore on either Indian or Jet Airways.

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