Growth creates learning demand

GROWING global economies are creating new and larger source markets for tourists, but also students, workers and eventually taxpaying, patriotic, sausage-burning Australian citizens.

It is a well-trodden path – a country builds prosperity and a new and ballooning middle class emerges.

Suddenly the world becomes a much smaller place for millions of people who would have been too busy in the field or factory a generation earlier to ever contemplate travelling abroad.

Prosperity creates means, means leads to knowledge, and that spark is all it takes to create a dream of educational betterment and the chance to forge a new life and career in an established economy like Australia.

Such a narrative is unfolding across the Pacific region at this very moment, and Cairns is ideally placed both geographically and institutionally to capitalise.

CQUniversity Cairns Associate Vice-Chancellor Jodie Duignan-George said the tertiary organisation’s biggest international source markets were currently the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, and the Indian subcontinent, including

Nepal. She saw the biggest opportunity for growth coming from PNG, the Indian subcontinent and Indonesia – all areas pegged for significant economic expansion over the coming years.

A key factor in convincing students to choose Cairns over the likes of Melbourne, Mumbai or – heaven forbid – Townsville, will be ensuring jobs are available when they graduate.

“Employability is a big issue and the ability to engage in work experience whilst studying can be a major drawcard in attracting students,” Ms Duignan-George said.

“Being able to demonstrate international employment on their CVs, when they return to their home country, gives students strategic advantage.

“To attract these students, employers in our region would need to work with the international education sector to provide internship opportunities as well as other employment opportunities.

“There can be significant returns to employers as well – there is often a lot that can be learned from the international students themselves,” Ms Duignan-George said.

That might require a new way of thinking in student work visa and skilled migration policies, but also in the attitudes of local employers.