Indian students - how Australia's education industry failed the PR test

What we need to save the brand Education Australia in India is a multi-million dollar television campaign from New Delhi to Chennai to Mumbai praising Australia’s educational virtues. That should not be hard as there are many. And the faces Indian people will see and the stories they will hear will be Indian student success stories.

The campaign will tell the story of Australia’s international education stars and point to some of our prestigious graduates. But it should also include the not so shining lights, the men and women who spend night after night hitting the books, trying to improve their lot in a foreign country through education.

And let’s not call the campaign “Where the Bloody Hell are You?”!

The government should examine the unique and innovative role and function of Education Adelaide and the South Australian Training Advocate. Between them they provide information to international students, advocate on their behalf and make sure they are getting a fair deal.

Education providers need to ask themselves this. If Chinese students started to make allegations of assaults and race prejudice, does anyone think we have a comprehensive crisis media strategy in place?

We won’t get much help from the Chinese government. They’re not happy with the Australian government about steel prices, the arrests of the Rio Tinto executives in Shanghai and letting the exiled Uighur leader, Rebiya Kadeer, speak about allegations of atrocities in western China.

We can say that international student numbers will be down in the next enrolment cycle. There’s nothing we can do about that but unless we act now and use public relations and advertising, and tell the stories of our international student successes, then we run the risk of market stagnation.