The New South Wales government announced the pilot plan on 10 June, stating that its administration intends to bring back 250 foreign students each week from abroad to Sydney, a number that is expected to grow to 500 students by the end of the year.
This proposal is now awaiting approval from the federal government, and it may take another eight weeks before the first group of international students may return to New South Wales.
The New South Wales government’s finance spokesman said that the program’s launch would be dependent on the federal government’s evaluation. It would take a minimum of six to eight weeks from the time NSW has told us that we may continue and operationalize the plan until the first student batch returns to the state.
When asked whether Indian students will be included in the return plan, the spokesman said that they will be brought back from a variety of important source countries that have not yet been named.
The New South Wales government has also announced that in the first phase of the transfer, the state would prioritize the return of continuing higher education students from the state’s institutions and five major independent education providers. Other industries and suppliers will quickly follow suit.
India will be added to the list if the country’s public health condition improves
Kaplan Business School (KBS) is one of five private education providers that have been selected to participate in the return plan. In its statement, KBS says that “for the time being, passport holders from the following countries will be eligible for the NSW Student Arrivals Plan: China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam.”
Once the public health situation in India improves, the nation will be included in this list. At a later point, it is anticipated that more nations would be included on the list.
According to the New South Wales government, the list of source countries was determined based on a number of factors, including “the number of overseas students enrolled in an institution, the public health situation in that country, and whether or not those nationalities are permitted to transit through Singapore.”