Australia’s Deakin University to open branch campus in India

Deakin University will become the first overseas educational institution to build a campus branch in India following the Albanese government’s efforts to boost prospects in the education industry, reports The Guardian. 

The four million Australian dollars campus will be built on the new Gujarat International Finance Tec City (GIFT). 

Late last year, India announced new regulations allowing foreign universities and educational institutions to set up branch campuses at GIFT. 

The government will also look at repatriating profits from many courses, including financial management, science, technology, engineering, and STEM subjects.

Indian students interested in cybersecurity and business analytics will be able to study at Deakin’s GIFT city campus — the first of its kind in the country. 

Currently, Deakin University has imposed a limit of 100 enrollments annually.

Deakin University’s branch campus: What this means for Indian students

Welcoming international students from India continues to be a priority for the Australian government. 

“We always welcome students to come and study in Australia,” Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese says in a speech at an event celebrating Australian Higher Education. 

Albanese adds, however, only some students will have the means to pack up and move to another country to study. He says: “There might be financial constraints, or family commitments, or a variety of reasons that you want to, or need to, stay closer to home.”

The presence of Australian universities in India will open new ways for Indian students to receive an Australian-certified education. “Along with Deakin, the University of Wollongong also has intentions to establish a campus at GIFT City,” Albanese shares. 

Meanwhile, Albanese announced the government had finalised the Australia–India Education Qualifications Recognition Mechanism. 

“This new mechanism means that if you’re an Indian student who’s studying — or about to study — in Australia, your hard-earned degree will be recognised when you return home,” he explains.

Alternatively, if students are a part of Australia’s large diaspora, Indian qualifications will be recognised in the Land Down Under.

This agreement marks India’s most extensive partnership with a foreign country which will pave the way for other Australian education institutions to offer Indian students the chance to receive a foreign-based education.

Ties between the two countries have remained strong. Source: Punit Paranjpe/AFP 

Albanese mentions that Deakin University’s achievement provides a basis for tertiary institutions to consider partnering with each other. “These developments — Australian university campuses and the qualification mechanism —– are just the latest additions to our ever-growing education partnership.”

He also announced the Maitri Scholarships, which allow Indian students to study in Australia for up to four years. “The scholarships are part of the wider Maitri program that seeks to boost cultural, educational and community ties between Australia and India,” the Australian prime minister shares. 

The partnership will strengthen bilateral relationships between Australia and India, according to Universities Australia, a group of 39 member universities from Australia. 

“Australia and India have 450 formal partnerships between them. Since 2005, more than 1.5 million Indians have obtained an Australian university degree. We can build on this – for the benefit of both nations,” Chief Executive of Universities Australia Catriona Jackson shared during the announcement last Wednesday. 

“Right now, more Indian students are studying at Australian universities than before the pandemic … this is a golden era for Australia and India’s relationship.”