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Recent media reports have again drawn attention to the increased number of thefts and attacks upon students from the Indian subcontinent.

Victoria University has been working closely with international students and Victoria Police on a safety program for the past two years.

Vice-President International Andrew Holloway said: “Talking softly in public won’t protect all students; nor will leaving their mobile phones and iPods at home. These strategies form part of the response, but equally important is a familiarity with their rights and the assistance available to help students lead a full and safe life while studying in Melbourne.

“As well as travelling to and from university for study, many international students also need to commute to part-time jobs, often late at night. This is why Victoria University has improved night shuttle bus services to transport hubs such as Sunshine and Footscray stations. We are also increasing the amount of accommodation available close to our campuses, so that students can avoid lengthy public transport trips.

“As part of a multi-pronged approach, we have been working with international students from South Asia and the police for two years on a program that maximises student safety. Our aim has been to ensure students are aware of the dangers and how best to avoid them or use better options, and also to inform them of the support available from a variety of sources, including the police, the university and the community.

“Together with the Police Multicultural Liaison Taskforce based at Footscray, we have developed a new initiative, a training program for university-appointed Safety Ambassadors, which is due to start shortly.

“In this program, students from the Indian subcontinent will receive instruction from police, lifesavers, fire brigade officers and other authorities in safety issues covering a wide range of settings – from public transport and the streets, to the internet, the surf and the bush. They will then be provided with materials and resources to share among fellow students, passing on their knowledge and expertise.

“In another fresh initiative, members of the Victoria Police Footscray Multicultural Liaison unit will spend three hours on our Footscray Park campus every second Thursday to chat with students about any issues of concern.

“Already, the university provides written and DVD material on safety tips to international students before their departure, upon arrival as part of induction programs, and throughout their stay in Melbourne. However, we have identified a need to increase the reach of this message and have decided that peer support is the most effective way to achieve this.

“Victoria University also hosts a Safety Week in which we distribute resources and spread the safety message. Local police officers attend this event, giving formal presentations and informal one-on-one briefs to students.

“Cultural issues are also being addressed. Many of our international students come from countries where the police routinely fail to respond to reports of violence or theft, or expect a bribe before they will act. In addition, many students fear that their student visas or applications for residency may be delayed or revoked if they are seen to be in trouble or involved in any way with the authorities. This perception can be one of the most difficult to overcome and undoubtedly contributes to under-reporting of attacks and other incidents.

“We have chosen to address this in a variety of ways. By working closely with the police, introducing them to students at our many events and encouraging informal as well as formal contacts, we are slowly breaking down cultural barriers that prevent close working relationships.

“But students need to know that the police are active and visible on the streets as well as on campus. This is also starting to happen, although it’s important to acknowledge that the police can’t be everywhere all the time. Nevertheless, patrols have stepped up in danger spots surrounding railway stations in the western suburbs.

“Authorities and community representatives have also expressed interest in travelling with our recruitment staff when we visit potential students offshore in their home countries.

“We are taking this one step further. Students and police have both expressed interest in a social cricket match. We’ve been bowled over by the response, including from female students. Both teams are starting to recognise they have something more than runs on the board to play for.”

Media contact: Jim Buckell, Acting Senior Media Officer
Marketing and Communications Department, Victoria University
Phone: +61 3 9919 4243
Mobile: 0400 465 459
Email: jim.buckell@vu.edu.au

Source: VU Media Centre

In Campus Review 20/01/2009 Stephen Connolly writes, “The recent article by Sushi Das in The Age (November 15 2008) portraying the tragic tale of Jimmy, the international student who ended up sleeping under a bridge in Melbourne, tells us nothing about the broad social issues of social inclusion of international students that need to be tackled. It is the type of sensational, error-prone journalism that is common in the press when it comes to international education, and takes energy away from tackling the real issues.”

What are the real issues about social inclusion? What should jounalists do to properly represent the issues? What ‘good news’ do you have about social inclusion of international students?

Last month, Campus Review (20.01.09) ran two articles relating to the social inclusion and integration of international students: one connected to quality assurance at Adelaide University, and the other a more personal reflection from IEAA president Stephen Connolly. Both perspectives are essential to the discussion about international student experience, from individual experience to systematic programs. It’s an important discussion for students, institutions and communities alike, but the issues are not new. In a successful and still-growing international education sector, a positive international student experience is, and has always been seen by many as both a social good and protection for the reputation and image of Australia as a friendly and welcoming host.

Are social inclusion and integration the same thing, however? As much as we would like to bundle up our buzzwords (student experience is a massively complex thing in itself), it might be wise to differentiate our terms if our efforts are to be effective. In Stephen Connolly’s article, social inclusion is related to personal hosting and welcoming. Face-to-face communication and relatedness through families and communities is often a voluntary, altruistic activity, benefiting some a great deal. Social inclusion often works by accident and goodwill, when some people are in the right place at the right time. It is sustained more by good practice than policy, except perhaps in well-managed home-stay and other programs. Visitors and hosts alike need to work hard if they wish to create socially inclusive spaces.

Integration refers to more formal processes which create environments for students to develop different cultural perspectives, find meaning in otherness, and confidently enter, depart and re-enter facilitated learning spaces. The term has been used, discussed and researched in the institutional context over time, and connects in part with social, psychological and cultural theory. It provides for the personal and academic development of students, and is often supported by policy as a key principle of international education good practice.

In 1987, the first international student adviser was appointed at UNSW, and through the early 1990s most universities invested in student advisers to facilitate social, cultural and academic integration on campuses. We saw the development of specific professional skills and knowledge generation that addressed integration as a development process, as well as a focus for program creation within international offices and other service areas. Integration was not as an attractive a buzzword as internationalisation, but every bit as real and every bit as difficult to achieve.

At the ISANA Conference in 1997, Richard Nowak and Robert Weiland described the importance of social competence as a developmental stage for international students, affected negatively by cultural shock unless universities met their obligations to these students by facilitating targeted programs that lead to ‘affective and relation-centred interaction.’

At the same conference, RMIT’s Professor Desmond Cahill, warned of the unpredictable effects Pauline Hanson could have on “our friendly, multicultural image” and consequently on international student experience. Cahill saw the issues had to do with ethical values, community cohesion and identity, in great danger of being undermined by Hanson and her supporters. Cahill described international student advisors as meeting the need for intercultural interaction and its facilitation, and applauded their understanding of language and culture in the context of international education which remains at all times a form of cross-cultural education.

Hanson was privileged in the media, and the dangerous potential of her views was evident in migrant communities as well as in universities, which were not sufficiently supported by government policy or public indignation. If they were, they might have better counteracted her impact through their contributions to community work and public education. These days, it’s media mischief that seeks to vilify the very institutions and community agencies that are dedicated to inclusive and welcoming practice; this, as Connolly asserts, draws energy away from the real issues.

International education has changed greatly since 1997, when overseas students holding visas in Australia numbered fewer than 150,000, as distinct from over 474,000 in 2008. Sheer numbers as well as cultural diversity and cross-sectoral dimensions provide us with enormous challenges to ensure students feel part of, and work successfully within, their learning communities. The need for professional skills in this area remains as crucial as ever for the success of our international education industry.

In 2009, integration and social inclusion remain a focus for professionals working with international students – the advisors, teachers, and specialised support services. The recent 19th ISANA conference, ‘Promoting integration and interaction’ devoted its program over four days to presenting and discussing several outstanding examples of real efforts, real projects, real information, focused research and systematic programs designed for today’s and tomorrow’s challenges.

Such things are formed by individuals and networks, supported by institutions, and cultivated by professional associations, a large part of whose role it is to generate and promote professional capacity. We hope these efforts are taken seriously and sustained by government. They involve investment in resources, improved knowledge, professional training – and good management. We need debate on international students and their place in our campuses and communities. The issues are more multi-faceted, and more difficult to understand than individual personal experiences, and while personal stories should be encouraged as instructive and uplifting, the tough issues about reason and purpose remain. Friendliness, of course is always important, but on a large scale management strategies need to come to the fore.

The ISANA 1997 conference theme was ‘In it together’. Some things don’t change – whether it’s a single student experience or the collective experience of thousands, ahead is a responsibility for all of us.

The Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, wants tougher laws to combat the rise of shonky education agents promising Australian visas to overseas students when they can deliver no such thing.

Increasingly, unscrupulous dealers in Australia and overseas are selling dubious study packages offering tuition, work experience and an Australian visa, a Senate committee heard yesterday.So worrying was the practice that Senator Evans said he had recently raised it with the Chinese ambassador.

“I have very severe concerns about education agents both in this country and abroad,” Senator Evans said.

“If someone gets induced and sold a package in their home country, there’s very little we can currently do about that. They arrive with expectations that can’t be delivered.”

Senator Evans said a lot of the promotion of such packages happened overseas. They purported to glean favourable visa outcomes for would-be students when in fact education agents could not provide immigration advice.

Senator Evans said he was working with the Education Minister, Julia Gillard, to increase the legislative powers available to Australia in tackling the problem.

He had also talked with representatives from Australian universities.

“Obviously they don’t want anything that undermines the reputation of Australia’s education services,” Senator Evans said.

The National Liaison Committee, Australia’s peak representative body for international students, said the exploitation began with the introduction of full-fee paying foreign students in 1986, and was worse now.

“It’s getting serious now with more private institutions being set up to recruit international students overseas,” the committee’s president, Eric Pang, said. “Many students are not aware of their rights as consumers. The recruitment agents are profit driven and obviously, looking for numbers. The students are looking for quality education.”He said foreign students were pumped with misinformation which led to disappointment and culture shock when they arrived in Australia.

“The gap between perception and reality can be really big, depending on how pretty a picture is being painted by agents offshore. International students need accurate information,” Mr Pang said.

Tougher regulation of overseas recruitment agencies was required to stem the problem, many of which were tied to private education providers operating in Australia, Mr Pang said.

He could not say how many students had been drawn to Australia on false promises of a visa.

Meanwhile, the Department of Immigration said it may have to compensate as many as 191 people for wrongful detention.

The Commonwealth Ombudsman, John McMillan, found last year that 247 Australian citizens, permanent residents and lawful visa holders had been wrongly detained between 1993 and 2007.

Yesterday a lawyer for the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, Robyn Bicket, told a Senate committee those cases had been reviewed.

“Currently we are at 191 cases we believe there is risk of legal liability for compensation,” she said.

Compensation has been offered in 40 cases, of which 17 have been settled at a total cost of $1.2 million, she said.

In the year to June 30, the department spent $4.1 million in compensation. Cornelia Rau, the permanent resident wrongly detained for 10 months, was awarded $2.6 million.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald