International student collapse smashes English-language schools

Advertisement

While the media has focused on the financial crisis afflicting the university sector, Australia’s English-language schools are being hit particularly hard by the collapse in international student enrolments:

The Independent Tertiary Education Council of Australia said before the virus crisis there were 175,000 international students doing English language or training-related courses…

ITECA chief executive Troy Williams said about 6 per cent of the workforce had lost their jobs permanently and more than 10 per cent had been put on hold…

English language schools with international-only enrolments are mong the hardest hit.

Richard Brown, who is the founder and owner of Brown’s English Language Schools in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, said the downturn was “heartbreaking”…

“If this continues, many schools will be mothballing operations,” he predicted.

The latest data from the Department of Education supports these concerns.

New international student enrolments into English-language (ELICOS) schools were 18% lower in the year to April 2020 than the same period in 2019:

Advertisement

Total enrolments in ELICOS were also down 11% year-on-year in April:

Advertisement

English-language schools are the ‘canary in the coalmine’ for the whole international student industry, since a large proportion of students that arrive to study in Australia begin with an English course.

Thus, fewer students arriving to study at ELICOS portends further falls in university enrolments.

About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.