No ban on applications from Indians: Oz varsity

New Delhi, April 20

Australia’s University of Wollongong (UOW) said on Thursday that it had not placed any ban or restriction on applications from Indian students, nor on students from any specific Indian states or regions.

It was reported that the UOW was one of the five universities that had placed a ban or restriction on students from some Indian states in response to a surge in fraudulent applications seeking to work, and not study, in the country.

The UOW said in a statement that it “does not have any restrictions on student applications from India other than the standard entry criteria we apply to all international students and the requirements of the Australian Department of Home Affairs”.

The UOW said it had streamlined its application process for all international students, including Indian students, to speed up the turnaround time on their applications.

An investigation by the Australian media said these universities were making it tough to enrol students from states such as Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat, as they suspected their prime purpose was to take up jobs rather than study.

Australian newspapers reported UOW had been putting students from the Indian subcontinent and some other countries such as Lebanon and Nigeria through a “genuine temporary entrant” test. — IANS