Video | AustCham Shanghai Member Moment - University of Sydney
Our CEO Jack Brady recently interviewed Michael Milne, Executive Director at the University of Sydney China Centre based in Suzhou, Jiangsu province.
Michael explains the reasoning behind the university setting up a centre in Suzhou, the research and programs run by the centre and the challenges the centre has faced in 2020 with the coronavirus impacting on the number of students able to travel to Australia to continue their education. He further discussed the strategies implemented in the wake of the pandemic involving offline classes with mixed results and the financial impact still unknown.
A key takeaway from the interview is that despite all that’s going on with tensions between Australia and China, the students are still the same as ever. Michael conveyed that online seminars have received just as much enthusiasm from the students with very large numbers of students expressing interest in them and the gratitude they’re expressing is quite remarkable.
Key Points
1:13 - Michael explains what the University of Sydney China centre does and some of the student programs they have facilitated
4:31 - Michael shares the reasoning behind setting up a centre in China, the experience in the past few years and what he hopes to achieve in the coming few years
12:31 - Michael discusses the impact of the coronavirus on locating students interested in studying in Australia
16:50 - Michael speculates on the events that might unfold towards the end of 2020 regarding whether students trapped in China will be able to continue their education in Australia or be forced to finish their degrees online
21:00 - Michael shares his views on the current situation in Australia regarding university funding and the importance of international students to the revenue stream
24:54 - Michael discusses the unjustified criticism that the education sector has received and the importance of international students to our society
