The seminar was attended by the educational industry and had speakers as the Honourable Paul Braddy, Chair of Queensland Education and Training International Board and Brazilian Priscila Trevisan, Manager of Australian Education International in Brazil, who delivered a
market update on international education opportunities in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. Priscila mentioned the increase in the number of enrollments of Brazilian students in Australia, placing Brazil as the 9th largest market for Australia.
Other speakers were David Nelson, Deputy Director of the Institute of Continuing and TESOL Education from the The University of Queensland and senior economist Dougal Crawford, discussing the global economic crisis and the implications for emerging markets. Cristina Talacko (ABCC) has discussed education within the Council on Australia Latin America Relation’s strategy plan and the event was closed by Dr Ken King, Acting Director of Queensland Education and Training International.”
A bit about the Education sector:
The number of Latin American students studying in Australia has increased significantly over the last couple of years. Brazil is still the leader followed by Colombia. As of September 2008, 17,064 Latin Americans commenced studying in Australia. This is a 32.3% increase from September 2007. This trend is expected to continue.
In October 2008 the Council of Latin America Relations (COALAR), Queensland Education and Training (QETI) and the University of Queensland (UQ) released the report Bridging the Divide. The report was developed to look at human resource capacity building through engagement of Latin American students studying in Australia, together with Australian and multinational companies activities in the Latin America region. Among the most salient of the report findings is that many companies are unaware of the numbers of Latin American students and the employment opportunities available for these students.
A major attraction for companies to engage with these students in Australia is the provision for overseas students studying on a student visa to work 20 hours per week during the semester, and full time during the holidays. On completion of studies in Australia, graduates have a greater opportunity for international workforce mobility.
