By DIRK MULDER

But there’s less on bringing students back and more on seeing COVID through

Last month, the WA Government released its International Education and Recovery plan, developed in the context of broader “recovery activities and reforms to strengthen and diversify the state’s economy.”

Good-o. The 32-page document indeed provides a lot of context and some optimism for those in WA who are tarred with a brush of a government which doesn’t appear to want to move at any great speed to welcome international students back.

Of the immediate priorities, WA seeks to expand on-line learning, to support delivery to students who are unable to come on-shore due to COVID-19.

A fund is established to support this however locals warn it is only available for providers who have already started the journey to on-line delivery and doesn’t support those wanting to start the process.

One of the more supportive measures is the COVID-19 industry support fund, announced on November 27, with hardship grants of $50k for providers.

The industry response has focused less on the content of the document, than the fact the government has actually announced an interest in its fate – with acknowledgements by the premier and minister for education and training.

However, locals shouldn’t get too excited about government interest – Premier McGowan and Minister Ellery have not issued a media release about the plan or made an announcement via their media site

The WA government election is on March 13 and while there are plenty of announcements on local issues, it appears there just aren’t many votes in international education.

Dirk Mulder is CMM’s international education correspondent.