Visiting students to school officials
TWO hundred students start arriving in Cairns over the coming week to tell the Queensland Government what it is like to study and live in Australia.
The government is convening its international education and training advisory panel in Cairns for only the second time outside Brisbane.
It’s part of the government’s plan to double the size of inter- national education in the Far North over the next 10 years.
Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones will arrive in Cairns today to chair the advisory panel.
“We’re making a statement by bringing our advisory panel to Cairns. We are committed to growing the international education sector in Tropical North Queensland,” Ms Jones said.
Member for Cairns Michael Healy said the students would tell the government first-hand about their study experiences in Australia. “International education currently supports around 300 jobs in Cairns but we think we can more than double that number in the next 10 years,” Mr Healy said.
It comes as MiHaven Student Living’s 42 rooms at Parramatta Park are now full since it opened in March.
“This is a great milestone for Cairns and proves what we’re doing in this space is working,” Mr Healy said.
Ms Jones said MiHaven was going from strength to strength.
“This goes to show Tropical North Queensland is a growth market for visitors who want to live and spend money in Cairns while they get a world-class education,” she said.
MiHaven director Sarah Mort said demand for student accommodation in Cairns was growing.
“The fact that we’re attracting strong future bookings within three months of opening just shows that students are recognising that,” she said.