AAERI announces action plan to safeguard Indian students in Australia

Mumbai, Oct 25: Association of Australian Education Representatives in India (AAERI) has announced some stringent steps for protection of Indian students opting to pursue higher education in Australia.

In light of the recent attacks on Indian students in Australia, AAERI, a self-regulatory body of education agents with over 160 members across India, has developed an ''8 point Action Plan'' to ensure a conducive environment for Indian students planning to study in Australia.

AAERI president Gulshan Kumar Pathania said, ''Australia is the second largest market for Indian students who pursue overseas education, and every year this number has been growing exponentially. In 2008 itself, over 40,000 students went to Australia from India.

In order to maintain this growth and reinforce Australia's standing as a high quality education destination, AAERI has been strongly lobbying with the government bodies in India and Australia for over a decade.'' Mr Pathania said, ''We urge all prospective students of India who are planning to study in Australia to go through AAERI members since they abide by a code of ethics which ensures students are treated honestly and fairly. AAERI members also ensure that students get accurate and unbiased information about studying options in Australia and are not charged more than the fee prescribed by AAERI, which is currently Rs 10,000.'' ''Our 8 point Action Plan includes feeding intelligence on fraudulent practices of agents to the Australian Government bodies, strongly advocating for interviews of students opting for Vocational courses and having stringent checks for eVisa lodgment Working closely with Indian community in Australia to understand the on ground situation and their concerns, strengthening AAERI's disciplinary committee and working closely with authorities in India and Australia to act on substantiated complaints from students immediately,'' he added.

--UNI

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