The international education community was waiting for a word on its future from National Cabinet, all they heard Friday was silence

By DIRK MULDER

It wasn’t as if industry advocates had failed to give the prime minister, premiers and chief ministers anything to talk about.

Major lobbies, International Education Association of Australia, English Australia and Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia had made their cases to  ministers and got their message into the media prior to the meeting.

What they all wanted was a message of support for international students who are stuck outside Australia and an indication of when they might be able to return.

With Australia now alone in the Anglosphere in keeping its borders closed to students, the industry thinks this is a minimum-must. But National Cabinet stayed silent, while managing to make plain, international education is not on its agenda. “It was agreed once again that the return of Australian residents is the priority, in terms of arrivals to Australia. We must remember that our borders are actually shut. No-one can just come to Australia. To be able to come to Australia, you need to be an Australian resident or citizen, or have a particular exemption,” Prime Minister Morrison said.

For optimists, there is a hint of hope in this reiteration of Australians-first. Returning arrivals to the cap in place before the appearance of the UK strain of COVID-19 and the agreement to consider options to increase quarantine capacity at the Howard Springs facility in the Northern Territory, will bring more Australians home sooner.

But for now, it is back to talking to ministers about what the industry immediately needs.

English Australia boss Brett Blacker says ensuring capacity in the feeder sectors is essential. This means continuing financial support for staff once Job-Seeker payments are paired back next month. While the Job Keeper programme has kept English language schools afloat to date, there is real concern they will start to close from March.

On top of the impact on staff, Mr Blacker warns this will impair the sector’s ability to rebuild and supply the usual feeder channels, from ESL to tertiary course providers, when governments decide to admit students into Australia.

Dirk Mulder is CMM’s international education correspondent