News and Opportunities
Austrade update 23 November 2011
23 Nov 2011
Austrade Update provides news about recent Austrade activities of interest to the education sector.
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Australian Education Excellence Showcase 2011, Malaysia
Austrade Kuala Lumpur held its Australian Education Excellence Showcase on 15–16 October, with 30 Australian institutions participating, along with other student service-related providers. The event included a seminar and was preceded by an education forum and a gala alumni dinner.
The education forum was held at the Australian High Commission and was attended by more than 117 participants from Australia and Malaysia. The forum comprised presentations from key education stakeholders from both countries. For the first time, the event was streamed via webinar to registered participants in Australia and Malaysia. The main objective was to update and better inform education stakeholders, which will assist with future collaborations.
The alumni gala dinner held at the Ritz Carlton Hotel was managed by the Malaysian Australian Alumni Association. The Education Personality Award for 2011 was awarded to Datin Chan-Low Kam Yoke, the founder and President of HELP University in Malaysia. She was recognised together with her husband, Dr Paul Chan, for long-standing relationships and continued work with Australian institutions.
The weekend showcase also incorporated a seminar series over the two days that provided the opportunity for institutions to profile their niche strengths.
Both the education forum and seminar series were streamed live via web-based seminars as a pilot project to reach audiences across cities in East and West Malaysia and Australia. The web-based sessions were interactive and generated a good response. Education agents and schools located in various cities in Malaysia registered for the web-based sessions and hosted a mini Australian Open Day. Malaysians are still not familiar with web-based seminars and many who registered for the sessions were impressed with the simplicity of the technology.
There was a steady stream of quality visitors, of which about 25 per cent were international students. This is reflective of the fact that Malaysia is fast becoming an international education hub and Australian education providers will be catering for a mixed range of prospective students in all future events. The local Malaysian market is mature and will be more enthusiastic to postgraduate offers that cover expert academic counselling, scholarship offers and admission criteria.
Australian schools sector on show in Switzerland and Italy
Australian schools attracted a high level of interest from both local education agents and government representatives on a recent mission to Switzerland and Italy.
In line with Austrade’s commitment to support Australia’s international education sector and develop new opportunities overseas, Austrade Frankfurt and Milan co-ordinated a schools mission to Switzerland and Italy from 7 to 9 November.
The objective was to connect the Australian schools with a diverse range of quality agents, enabling them to develop ongoing relationships and build enrolments. Additionally, the mission worked to familiarise the schools with the distinct characteristics of the two markets and facilitate the creation of market-specific strategies to meet the needs of local agents, parents and students.
The three-day program kicked off with a series of meetings with education agents in Zurich, followed by presentations on the Swiss school system by government representatives in Bern. The mission then moved on to Lausanne where the schools held further meetings with local agents and education authorities and visited a local high school. The final day of the program brought participants to Milan for meetings with various Italian education agents, followed by a round-table session with the Government Education Authority for the Province of Milan to discuss the Italian school system.
The participating schools, comprising both private and public institutions from across Australia, are now in discussions with Swiss and Italian representatives on possible collaborations.