The Council of International Students Australia (CISA) is disappointed with the failure of last night’s ABC Four Corners’ story, Degrees of Deception to cover its international education sector in a balanced and accurate manner and is distancing itself from the report, as it lacks a balanced student perspective across all issues that were reported.
 
“While we concur with the findings of the New South Wales Independent Commission Against  Commission (ICAC) on its report documenting pervasive cheating and corruption happening within universities, agents and staff members including academics, we believe the concurrent reports, including those of media has resulted in gross generalisations that taints the entire international student population,” said the CISA National President, Thomson Ch’ng.
 
On behalf of the international students in Australia, CISA believes that international students are the ultimate victims now that focus over the years has shifted from providing a quality education experience to one that is driven by a relentless pursuit for financial returns. In the long run, international students remain vulnerable when standards are compromised to meet the circumstances of a few.
 
“A few bad apples and a small handful of concerned academics should not define the general reputation of international students. There are students who work genuinely hard by exercising due diligence in their studies so as to make the most of a huge financial investment and there are certainly full-time academics who can attest to the quality and success of international students who have gone on to demonstrate capability in the workplace,” Mr Ch’ng said. 
 
“We acknowledge that cheating happens from time to time, it is certainly not unique to just international but domestic students as well and no sector is immune to that. What we can rely on is an ongoing commitment to improve standards and conduct,” added Mr Ch’ng.
 
CISA calls for a government inquiry to examine the issues which has been raised by the students and the sector. CISA also notes a silence from the responsible regulator TEQSA and calls for an immediate action to protect the welfare of international students as well as the reputation of the sector.
 
Mr Ch’ng explained, “If the government is serious about increasing education as an export industry to be worth $30 billion, then it has to invest in developing a much-needed consultation with students on the ground to identify issues and work on fixing these issues sooner rather than later before it exacerbates.”
 
With “student experience” being a key service indicator within the international education sector of late, there is a need to develop a combination of qualitative and quantitative measures in assessing the student voice on the ground.
 
CISA is of the opinion that this needs to be reflected in the form of concurrent surveys, focus groups and consultative forums to reflect accuracy in issues that have been identified.
 
“Surveys and interviews can only go so far in providing feedback on international student related issues. We are interested in measuring the depth of the discontent and being realistic on how can we either shape up or decline. We are not here to validate any efforts to sugarcoat and give ourselves a pat on the back when our peers out there are ‘suffering’ because of sector complacency,” Mr Ch’ng concluded.

 
About CISA 
Formed in 2010, the Council of International Students Australia (CISA) is recognized as the national peak student representative organization for all international students in Australia. CISA is a not-for-profit, non-politically and non-commercially aligned organisation formed in response to the needs among international students for a unified voice. More information can be found at www.cisa.edu.au

Media Contacts:

Thomson Ch'ng
National President, Council of International Students Australia 
pres@cisa.edu.au or 0425 235 288

Dion Lee
National Public Relations Officer, Council of International Students Australia
publicrelations@cisa.edu.au or 0466 029 642