Summary

• 63 international students from all-across Asia are the first ones who have been allowed in Australia in eight months.
• The newcomers arrived in Darwin, Northern Territory, in the morning, marking a memorable day in the education industry since the COVID-19 pandemic started.
• NT plans to bring more international students next year, with more states possibly following the pilot program.

Northern Territory became the first Australian state to welcome the first batch of international students.

A flight from Singapore transported 63 individuals from all over Asia – China, Japan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

The students arrived in Darwin on Monday morning, becoming the first international students who were allowed to the country since the government shut the borders.

All the students underwent health screenings after they arrived at Darwin airport. They later proceeded to the Howards Springs quarantine facility and will stay there for the next 14 days. The facility has had several roles over the last few months, but most famously for hosting Australians who had arrived in the country during the pandemic.

Once the quarantine period is over, they will be transferred to their campus at Charles Darwin University.

This news came after Charles Darwin University agreed on a deal with the government in September for flying a maximum of 70 international students to the country. The CDU is now the pioneer in hosting international students despite closed international borders since earlier this year.

Seventy-two hours before the flight to Australia, all students needed to get a negative coronavirus test to board the plane. They were required to self-fund the flight, but the CDU will cover all mandatory quarantine costs.

Who are the new students?

The flight charter consisted of brand-new and some previously enrolled students across all levels of tertiary education.

Undergraduate, postgraduate, and VET (Vocational Education and Training) programs welcomed the new law, nursing, engineering, IT, teaching, and accounting students.

The students came to Australia as part of a pilot scheme, which is supposed to show a wider acceptance for international students in Australia. The country has not allowed any international academic since April. Experts hope that the pilot project will set an excellent example for the rest of stranded internationals overseas.

ALSO READ: Why is Australia losing international students?

Are there plans for bringing more international students?

Initially, the ACT and South Australia were supposed to join the pilot program for bringing up to 350 and 300 students respectively in Canberra and Adelaide. However, the second lockdown in Melbourne and recent events in SA caused delays in the arrangement.

Sixty-three international students who arrived in Darwin are, for now, first and the last group for this year. Nonetheless, the Northern Territory government is working relentlessly on moving more students to their campuses, as they mean a great deal to the local economy.

Minister for International Education, Nicole Manison, informed people that each international student brings on an average A$40,693 to NT. They help to expand the economy and fill a significant part of the workforce.

What are the plans regarding the hotel quarantine?

The federal government had considered a priority to bring back the stranded Australians.

As 36,000 of those people are still waiting for a green signal to enter the country, the government wanted to pause arrivals of international students to avoid overwhelmed quarantine programs.

Last week, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian revealed a proposal for allowing 1,000 quarantine areas each week for students and migrants. However, to fulfil that quota, all states need to increase quarantine capacity in their designated spaces.

In case, the government decides to leave the borders shut until the end of the next year,  Australia could lose an estimated A$19 billion in student profits.