Workshop Theme 3: Improving Higher Education Sector Mobility between ASEAN and Australia and Within

Target Audience:

ASEAN and Australian mobility leaders and mobility students who value and support the development of two way ASEAN Australia regional mobility and intra ASEAN mobility.

Rationale:

Australia’s recent focus has been on building mobility programs between Australia and the Indo Pacific with ASEAN a targeted region. Since 2014 the New Colombo Plan (NCP) has been the key outbound mobility vehicle together with the Endeavour Scholarship program. By 2018 NCP will have supported over 13,500 Australian students to undertake mobility programs in ASEAN and for some ASEAN students to come to Australia.

Australia continues to be a popular destination for ASEAN scholarship and fee paying students seeking a world class education. In 2017 over 100,000 students from ASEAN were studying in Australia. In addition Australia has a network of University campuses, English Language centres and TVET programs operating in most of the countries of ASEAN. Some Australian Universities are now offering split masters programs in particular ASEAN countries e.g. Indonesia and this model may lead to more ASEAN Australia higher education sector mobility.

ASEAN is focused on building and promoting the ASEAN Community and building an ASEAN Higher Education Area. Student mobility is one strategy to achieve this aim. The South East Asian Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO) and the ASEAN University Network (AUN) are both working to strengthen academic mobility programs within and outside the ASEAN region.

The European Union (EU) is partnering in the region to support intra ASEAN Higher Education Mobility through a student scholarship scheme for 500 ASEAN students to undertake study within ASEAN and in the EU. Up to this point partnering with ASEAN to target intra ASEAN Mobility has not been a focus of Australian government policy nor of institutional practice.

The Workshop Objectives:

Sharing student, institutional and stakeholder experiences, successes and challenges in establishing two way ASEAN Australia student mobility and intra ASEAN mobility;

Developing strategies to strengthen and improve ASEAN Australia mobility networks and partnerships including via internships and attachments;

Exploring how Australia might partner more effectively with SEAMEO and AUN to participate in ASEAN based mobility programs;