Corona pandemic has hit the entire world very badly. While students across the globe had a terrible time adjusting to the online schedules and new mode of learning, things turned pretty bad for international students who lost their income source due to lockdown. There has been quite an uproar from organizations who came out in the open to support the students facing financial distress.
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Australia Scraps The 40 Hours Working Limit for International Students Temporarily
Australia will continue with its decision to keep the international borders closed until 2022. But now it has taken notice of the foreign students who remained in the city during the lockdown. These students had to go through severe financial hardships as most of the outlets were closed. Now the government has decided to give these students a chance to earn a bit more to make up for their earnings.
Earlier, the hospitality and tourism sector students were allowed to work for only 40 hours every fortnight. However, now the government has decided to increase these hours for those with international students visas. While Prime Minister Scott Morrison believes that the student community will appreciate this move, a few believe that this announcement should have been made a bit earlier.
According to Belle Lim, the National President of the Council of International Students Australia “There’s no mention [in the budget] about how international students contribute to the workforce here in Australia and all the things that we’ve been through last year without any support.” She even said that this apathy from the Australian government towards international students is the main reason why more people are choosing UK, US, and Canada over Australia for studies.
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Even students believe that they should receive more support from the government and the universities where they study. A student from Myanmar who stayed back in Australia during the pandemic said, “We need some action from the university and we need some action from [the] government or other organizations which can help some students [in these situations] with financial aid.”
However, for most of the students who lost their jobs last year, this is a welcome change as now they can work more and earn enough to cover their expenses in Australia.