Melbourne:
As he prepared to leave for New Delhi to reassure India that his country was safe for its students, Victorian Premier John Brumby on Monday announced a $14 million boost to secure the long-term future of the state's international education industry.
Launching the project 'Thinking Global' with a Ganesh puja, Brumby said the quality of international education would include audit of high risk providers and will also include extension of current rapid audit to cover an extra 24 providers in next four months time.
Brumby, who will arrive in India on Tuesday, will meet with officials, students business leaders and the Indian media "to ensure the message is heard loud and clear that Victoria is a welcoming, multicultural place."
Brumby said his trip was of utmost importance in view of attacks against Indian students here. He said his trip signified that the relationship between the two sides were strong and positive and that Australia was keen to further boost the ties.
Of the $14 million, the government will spend $1.4 million on maintaining the quality of its international education apart from $0.9 million on buddy programme to support overseas students living in Victoria.
"The key initiatives will include extending state's education service managers, international scholarship programme, expert reference group."