{"id":13112,"date":"2021-09-24T20:12:35","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T20:12:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=13112"},"modified":"2021-09-24T20:12:35","modified_gmt":"2021-09-24T20:12:35","slug":"pilot-plan-to-return-international-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2021\/09\/24\/pilot-plan-to-return-international-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Pilot Plan to return international students"},"content":{"rendered":"

A pilot plan that will see the phased return of fully vaccinated international students to NSW has been given the green light by the Commonwealth Government, with the first flight touching down by the end of this year.
\nAccommodation provider Scape has been confirmed to house the returning students for a 14-day quarantine in Redfern, at a building retrofitted to accommodate up to 650 students to COVIDSafe standards approved by NSW Health and NSW Police.
\nDeputy Premier and Minister for Regional New South Wales, Industry and Trade John Barilaro said the staggered return of students was stage one of a pilot that would slowly expand and evolve, as vaccination rates continue to rise in NSW and internationally.
\n\u201cThe international education sector sustains thousands of jobs across NSW, and I\u2019m proud that NSW is leading the way with the return of international students to our shores,\u201d Mr Barilaro said.
\n\u201cThe safety of the people of NSW is paramount and we are taking no risks. All participating students will be required to be fully vaccinated with a TGA-recognised COVID-19 vaccine, and strict quarantine protocols will be in place.
\n\u201cImportantly, this plan will not come at the expense of any Australian citizen or resident wishing to return home.\u201d
\nTreasurer Dominic Perrottet said the program was vital to the State\u2019s economic recovery, creating jobs and restoring growth.
\n\u201cInternational education plays an important role in connecting NSW to the world,\u201d Mr Perrottet said. \u201cAs we implement a range of efforts to reboot our economy, rebuilding the sector – which was worth $14.6 billion to NSW in 2019 – is a key part of our efforts.\u201d
\n>Education partners including Australian Catholic University, Macquarie University, The University of Newcastle, The University of Sydney, UNSW, UTS, University of Wollongong and Western Sydney University, plus independent providers the International College of Management Sydney, Kaplan, Navitas, RedHill and Study Group, have signed up to the industry-funded pilot plan.
\nMinister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said NSW was the top destination in Australia for international students.
\n\u201cMore than 57,000 students are currently overseas, with many desperate to return, resume their studies, part-time jobs, connect with friends and continue their journey in our world-leading institutions,\u201d Mr Ayres said.
\nThe first phase of the pilot plan is anticipated to bring back 500 international students to NSW on chartered flights, paid for by the students, by the end of the year.
\nScape CEO Anouk Darling said the company was proud to be involved in the pilot.
\n\u201cOur Scape team are proud to partner with the NSW Government and our world class education sector, here in NSW, to welcome our returning international students into our most advanced and COVID-safe student accommodation facility at Scape Redfern,\u201d Ms Darling said.
\nThe announcement was welcomed by the higher education sector with Professor Barney Glover AO, Governor of the NSW Vice-Chancellors\u2019 Committee thanking the NSW Government.
\n\u201cAfter over 18 months of planning, we are delighted that both the Australian and NSW Government are supportive of a pilot plan for an incremental reopening of our borders to our international students,\u201d Mr Glover said.
\nCouncil of International Students Australia President, Belle Lim, welcomed the detailed planning and collaborative approach.
\n\u201cWe all want international students back on campus, enjoying the unique learning, work and life experience that only studying in Australia can deliver. We support the cautious approach and look forward to growing the number of students returning to NSW over time,\u201d Ms Lim said.
\nCEO of Independent Higher Education Australia Simon Finn said the private higher education sector welcomes the pilot\u2019s launch and commends the NSW Government\u2019s unwavering focus on community safety, international student welfare and rebuilding the state economy.
\n\u201cBy working with the Independent Higher Education Australia (IHEA) on this pilot from the beginning, the NSW Government has demonstrated its commitment to supporting both the private and public education sector,\u201d Mr Finn said.
\nParticipating education providers will contact students to progress an expression of interest for the pilot plan.
\nVision of international students can be found\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A pilot plan that will see the phased return of fully vaccinated international students to NSW has been given the green light by the Commonwealth Government, with the first flight touching down by the end of this year. Accommodation provider Scape has been confirmed to house the returning students for a 14-day quarantine in Redfern, … Continue reading “Pilot Plan to return international students”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13112\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}