[ad_1]
SYDNEY: International students arrived in Australia for the first time since the country closed its borders to curb the coronavirus in March, with a charter flight landing in Darwin on Monday (November 30).
Australian universities have been leaking cash due to the indefinite closure of the country’s border, which has blocked foreign students keeping the billion-dollar sector afloat.
READ: IN FOCUS: Has COVID-19 killed the appeal of studying abroad?
A Charles Darwin University (CDU) chartered plane with 63 international students arrived in the northern city of Darwin as part of a pilot program aimed at boosting the higher education industry.
The students, from mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam and Indonesia, traveled to Singapore to catch the flight and will now spend 14 days in a government quarantine facility.
The combination of new and continuing students is enrolled in a variety of undergraduate and graduate courses including law, nursing, and engineering.
In a statement, the CDU said it was “an important first step in the recovery of the international education sector in Australia.”
READ: Australia opens more borders in boosting domestic travel, targets COVID-19 vaccine
Education ranks as Australia’s fourth largest export, behind iron ore, coal and natural gas, with more than 500,000 international students enrolled last year, contributing approximately AU $ 37 billion to the economy.
Lobbyist Universities Australia said in June that the sector could lose $ 11 billion as a result of the border closure.
Universities, which as public institutions were omitted from a government coronavirus wage subsidy scheme, have been cutting thousands of jobs.
Similar proposals from universities in Canberra and Adelaide were previously scrapped, as the government came under pressure to reserve places in quarantine facilities for Australians stranded abroad.
Policies limiting the number of returnees have left more than 35,000 Australian citizens trapped abroad, despite promises by the government to bring them home before Christmas.
Many international students also remain stuck in Australia, with some relying on charities for food delivery after they were excluded from support packages.
CHECK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments
Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram
