The Australian government has suspended new applications from private colleges and training providers seeking to offer courses to international students, as authorities step up efforts to tighten oversight of the student visa system.
Under new federal regulations, applications to offer vocational education and English-language programs to overseas students will be paused for 12 months.The suspension, which took effect Monday, applies to submissions made to the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA), the national regulator for vocational education providers, according to a statement published on the Ministers' Media Center website.The measures target Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS) registrations related to international student delivery, in the vocational education and training (VET) and English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) sectors.The suspension does not apply to public providers, including government schools, Technical and Further Education institutes and Table A universities.To ensure existing courses remain current, registered providers will still be allowed to apply for specific modifications. Providers may continue applying to add a new location for an existing course or register a replacement course that supersedes a current offering on the National VET Register."Suspending new registrations to teach international students VET or English language onshore ... will allow the Government to address integrity concerns about new market entrants and oversaturation in the international VET and ELICOS sectors," Assistant Minister for International Education, Julian Hill, is quoted in the release as saying.
