In today’s talking points: International students studying in Australia reach record numbers; Growth In China’s Private Education Spending Fuels IPO, Fortune; More Australian students are gaining overseas experience; Navitas investment into providing borderless education
International students studying in Australia reach record numbers
The number of international students in Australia hit a record high last year with more than half a million choosing to study there. Figures show there were 554,179 full-fee paying international students in 2016. The higher education sector had the largest share of Australia’s international students, and the largest numbers came from China and India. Federal Education Minister Simon Birmingham said the numbers showed the importance of attracting overseas students. International education is now the third largest export sector generating more than $21 billion of economic activity in Australia, supporting many jobs and providing benefits to both Australian and international students. The government also released the results of last year’s international student survey, which found 89 per cent of students were satisfied with their overall experience in Australia.
Read more at ABC
Growth In China’s Private Education Spending Fuels IPO, Fortune
China Yuhua Education has become the latest business to benefit from the country’s growth in education spending. It educates nearly 50,000 students at its network of private schools in China.The company’s shares rose by as much as 10.7% from their listing price of HK$2.05 on debut at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 28th of February. Yuhua is based in Zhengzhou of Henan Province and providing education from kindergarten to college at 16 campuses. Its chairman Li Guangyu founded his first school in 2001 after running a trading company. Li graduated from the Changchun Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics in 1983 and he received MBA from the Guanghua School of Management, Peking University in 2007. He owns 2.2 billion shares, or 75% of Yuhua through Guang Yu Investment. Yesterday his stake was worth as much as $660 million.
China’s richest education entrepreneurs are Zhang Bangxin, chairman of TAL Education Group, who ranked No. 112 on the 2016 Forbes China Rich List and Yu Minhong, chairman of New Oriental Education and Technology Group, who ranked No.169 on the 2016 Forbes China Rich List.
Read more at Forbes
More Australian students are gaining overseas experience
A recent survey of 36 Australian universities revealed that 20% of grads have overseas experience.The figure of students pursuing overseas study has increased to 19.5% (38,144 students) in 2015. This is comparable to figures from the U.K. 5% of grads, in the us.s 15% of grads, and in Canada as low as 2.3% Popular destinations included U.S. attracting 13%, with China and the U.K. attracting 9%. Together with Indonesia and Canada, these countries drew a total of 40% of Australian students. This growth in recent years can in some part be attributed to programs such as the New Colombo Plan (NCP). The NCP was relaunched in 2013 and provides grants to students seeking opportunities abroad. As a part of the plan, the number of undergraduates studying in ‘priority destinations’ such as China, Indonesia, Japan, Cambodia and India has grown 30%. Trevor Goddard, a member of the board of directors at the International Education Association of Australia and a member of the DFAT New Colombo Plan Reference Group, has said that greater mobility in education is not only ‘transforming students through their education, it is transforming institutional internal structures through capacity and services around student mobility,’
Read more at The Pie News
Navitas investment into providing borderless education
Navitas Ventures – an education venturing arm of the A$2 billion education company Navitas – has invested in a national business accelerator with the goal of incubating 200 Australian edtech start ups. The accelerator will assist in meeting Austrade’s goals of delivering international education to 100 million students by 2025.Through incubation, investment and partnerships with universities and tertiary institutions, Navitas hopes to innovate the way in which education is delivered. Along with Deakin university, Monash University, La Trobe university, Charles Sturt University and Griffith University, they have invested $1.8 mil in non for profit organization, Edugrowth – a national acceleration network with goals of providing scalable, borderless education. Inaugural CEO Riley Batchelor has stressed that the international education industry is Australia’s largest service export and future growth engine.
Read more at The Pie News