The South Australian government has been asked to bring international students using charter flights in the same way the Northern Territory (NT) did in November 2020.
Phil Honeywood, the Chief Executive of the International Education Association of Australia (IEAA) recently urged South Australia to follow the NTs lead to help recover the international education industry of the country.
In November last year, the NT used a charter flight to bring a total of 63 students from Singapore to Darwin. This was the first batch of international students to enter Australia since border restrictions were imposed in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Praising NTs initiative, Honeywood urged SA to follow suit and also described the states plan of letting international students take seats on commercial flights which are not booked by returning Australians as a lottery.
According to News Corp Australia, he said that this becomes something of a lottery for any state government as the number of Australians returning to the country keeps changing.
He further said that as proven by the NT government, charter flights are a viable option which SA should also have as an option.
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Before the Covid-19 outbreak in Australia, its international educations contribution to the SA economy was worth around USD 1.5 billion per year.
James Stevens, a Member of Parliament for Sturt in South Australia, said that the massive industry will be at risk if governments do not make plans to welcome international students.
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