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by Rodney Arambewela

At a graduation ceremony of a leading Australian university held recently in Melbourne at least 26 full fee paying Sri Lankan students graduated in different disciplines. One of them had the distinction of receiving a prestigious university award and the honour of proposing the vote of thanks on behalf of all graduating students.

The majority of our international students have performed exceptionally well in their studies to whichever university they belonged to - Melbourne, Monash, Deakin, RMIT, Swinburne or Victoria Universities. Similar successes are reported in other states of Australia. A large section of our international students have also integrated well into the local Sri Lankan community and continue to make a valuable contribution towards community welfare activities.

This is the positive side of the story but there is also a negative side. Some of our international students have failed to fulfil their academic goals and a few of them languish in immigration detention centers for violating student visa conditions. Few others spend their hard earned dollars on local immigration lawyers for visa extension in order to continue with their study programs.

It has become a vicious circle for these students with little hope of getting out of the predicament. While the numbers in this category maybe small, it is a growing concern among the international student population and the Sri Lankan community in Australia that the behaviour of such students has brought disrepute to Sri Lanka and agony and anxiety to parents back at home.

Full fee paying students seeking international education is relatively a recent phenomenon in Sri Lanka. It was not until the mid 1990s that large numbers of students started moving out of Sri Lanka for studies overseas taking advantage of country's relaxed exchange control regulations.

The growth of Sri Lankan students entering overseas higher educational institutions has raised several issues and implications to students as well as policy makers in Sri Lanka and the purpose of this article is to discuss some of these ramifications in relation to Sri Lankan international students in Australia.

Sri Lanka is categorised as a high risk country by Australian Immigration in view of the high incidence of violations of visa conditions by Sri Lankans entering Australia. Though the number of visa violations by Sri Lankan students has decreased significantly over the years compared to students of many other Asian countries, Sri Lankan students continue to face difficulties in obtaining a visa.

Despite the high barriers placed on student vias, recent statistics indicate a significant increase in the number of international students from Sri Lanka seeking higher education in Australia. For example the number of students in higher education during 2001-2002 recorded nearly a four-fold increase compared to the previous two-year periods, albeit from a very low base.

In 2002 the students entering Australia for higher education increased by 10 times compared to the previous year - the largest growth coming from the postgraduate sector. According to the Department of Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) a total of 1703 Sri Lankan student visas were issued between the years 1999 and 2002, for studies in Australia, of which higher education represented 64% of all categories of studies. A large proportion of these students study in universities in Melbourne.

Based on the current student statistics, a conservative estimate suggests that the average foreign exchange outflow from Sri Lanka to Australia each year is around A$25 million on student fees and expenses.

These maybe considered private funds but still country's money and with the projected growth of full fee paying Sri Lankan students in Australia, the foreign exchange outflow is expected to increase considerably in the future.

The substantial investment on overseas education calls for greater attention on the welfare of Sri Lankan students by the Sri Lankan government. The students require guidance and support in order to maximise their study outcomes.

The inadequacy of the services provided by the local agents in relation to the choice of an appropriate course of study and an educational institution and unethical behaviour of some agents is a common complaint made by many students. Such a situation makes students very vulnerable in a completely new environment.

Currently there is no officially established support mechanism available to Sri Lankan students in Australia unlike many other Asian countries, which have dedicated education officers attached to the respective diplomatic missions to look after the welfare of students. They maintain updated lists of students studying in various educational institutions and are able to assist students as and when required. This is an area that requires close attention of the Sri Lankan government authorities.

A major problem associated with such an initiative is the reluctance of Sri Lankan students to register with the Sri Lankan High Commission or the Consulates in Australia. Contrary to their counterparts from other countries, Sri Lanka students wish to remain anonymous and rarely seek advice and assistance from the High Commission or the Consulates unless the matter is extremely serious.

It is believed that our students should consider this option of registration very seriously in the interest of their own welfare and the Australian educational institutions, local agents and the Sri Lankan government authorities should encourage this practice.

A major dilemma of students is the false expectation of the work rights available to overseas students in Australia. Many students seem to arrive in Australia with the expectation of earning adequate money to pay for their education expenses not realising that 20 hours per week will provide them with only a supplementary income for their living expenses. In the past many students have attempted to devote more time in work than in their studies with disastrous consequences. Working in excess of 20 hours per week is a violation of student visa conditions and of late the Australian Immigration has come down hard on students who breach this condition.

A student can be detained under suspicion of such a contravention and if proven can be deported to the country of origin. Many students who over commit themselves in work invariably lag behind in their studies and face a situation where they need to keep extending their student visas to continue to stay in the country. This entails huge investments on local immigration lawyers with more compelling reasons to work harder to meet these expenses, thereby falling into an unfortunate catch - 22 situation.

The prospective students need to be aware of these issues in order to avoid complications in their pursuit of higher education in Australia. The choice of an appropriate study program and a university involves a complex decision making process.

It can and should be aided by good information. It is clear therefore that all stakeholders - the students, local agents, Australian universities, Australian High Commission and the Sri Lankan government have important roles to play to promote a more conducive environment to ensure beneficial study outcomes for students studying in Australia.

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