Indian students' enrolments drop by 24 per cent in Australia

Australian education providers saw a drop of 8. 5 per cent in enrolments during January to June 2012 as compared with the same period last year. The significant decline is said to be in contrast to the average yearly growth rates since 2002 of 6.6 per cent.

The decline in enrolments has hit hardest in the vocational education sector which dipped by over 14 per cnet during the period.

In terms of Indian students enrolments the figures dropped by over 24 per cent during January-June 2012 as compared to previous corresponding year.

At year-to-date figure, there were 389,356 enrolments by full-fee international students in Australia on a student visa, which represents a 8.5 per cent decline on the same period in 2011 and contrasts with the average YTD June growth rate for enrolments since 2002 of 6.6 per cent per year, the official statement said.

The data noted while the total Indian student enrolments fell down, in Vocational and Education Training (VET) sector Indian student enrolments were still ranked high in numbers at 31,326 as compared to other nationalities and accounted for the largest share of total enrolments in the sector at 29. 5 per cent.

It was followed by China which was the next largest source country by enrolments with 10.9 per cent, followed by Thailand at 6. 7 per cent, the data revealed. The total number of enrolments from India stood at 42,049 till June this year as compared to 55,595 last period.