I would like to firstly acknowledge the support from our members over the past month. Your commitment to English Australia, as signified by renewing your membership, is greatly appreciated. I understand the pressure that members are facing, and we will continue to do everything possible to support your survival and revival.
Engaging with agent networks
I had a busy schedule representing English Australia members at the ICEF ANZA virtual conference at the start of this month. It was a great event and well done to the ICEF team for continuing to facilitate these workshops to support our interactions with the global agent community.
Raising member concerns with government
I have engaged extensively with State and Federal Governments throughout the month via our membership on key forums. These forums include the Department of Education, Skills and Employment International Stakeholders forum, the Department of Home Affairs Education Visa Consultative Committee, StudyNSW Advisory Board and the QLD IET Covid response committee.
Hot topics naturally included pilot border reopening strategies, most of which have stalled. There is however a strong commitment nationally to support the international education industry and we are ensuring our members interests are represented.
Meeting of the English Australia Board
The English Australia Board met this month via videoconference. The Board discussed and endorsed key governance processes such as the annual financial statements and auditor’s reports. The Board also reviewed the responses to our annual member survey and considered how to best integrate the feedback into our new Strategic plan. This plan will be presented at this years’ Annual General Meeting. A summary of the Board meeting can be found here.
The English Australia 2020 Annual General meeting (AGM) will be held separately from the conference this year. The AGM will be held at 1:00pm (AEDT), Tuesday 20 October 2020. Board member terms will be aligned to that date with the call for nominations for Board roles commencing shortly.
Working in partnership with ATEC on the reopening of borders
Last month, I informed members that English Australia has been working in collaboration with the Australian Tourism Export Council (ATEC) under our recently executed MoU. The focus of our efforts has been around a pilot border reopening program to support the ELICOS sector. Our solution offers a unique and scalable approach to reopening our borders leveraging off the GoPassport infrastructure. This approach will both protect the health of the Australian population and begin the process of rebuilding our sector and the wider economy. This month we submitted our proposal as part of the federal pre-budget submissions process and I will keep members updated on its progress as we attain more information.
The 2020 English Australia Conference
The agility of the ELICOS sector came to the fore this year as we rapidly pivoted to online modalities. During this shift, English Australia responded to member needs by hosting a suite of webinars on technology-based learning and connected a multitude of teachers and other ELICOS staff through our Special Interest Groups. It was encouraging to see our sector respond so positively to the challenges of the pandemic, particularly in online teaching and learning.
Now, it almost feels like we are in a different phase of teaching and learning. We no longer scramble just to run lesson online but instead look for better ways to support and engage our students. How we provide this support and engagement will form a key part of this month’s English Australia Conference.
This year’s Conference is wholly online. This year’s Conference is also free for English Australia members. We know how tough this year has been, and continues to be, so English Australia wanted to recognise this. I encourage you to register for our conference. Make the most of your membership and enjoy the diversity of sessions that the Conference offers.
TEQSA appoints new CEO
I would like to take this opportunity to welcome TEQSA’s new Chief Executive Officer, Alistair Maclean. I look forward to continuing our strong relationship with TEQSA and ensuring the needs of our members are at the forefront of any regulatory changes. I would also like to thank Professor Nick Saunders AO for his time as acting Chief Executive Officer and look forward to continuing to work with Nick in his role as Chief Commissioner of TEQSA.
English Language Barometer survey webinar
Stephen Connelly, Director, i-graduate Australia will be presenting a webinar this Thursday for colleges that participated in the 2019-2020 English Language Barometer survey. He will explain what the results mean and how colleges can use their institutional summaries and ranking sheets to achieve higher student satisfaction levels. If you participated in the survey and would like to attend the webinar please email us.
Quarterly Market Insights Survey Q2
We are putting together the final touches on the Q2 report from our Quarterly ELICOS Market Survey. I would like to thank the many colleges who participated in our second round of surveying. Without your participation, the report would not be possible. We have again had a significant number of participants giving us even more insight into the changes that have occurred from 2019 to 2020. I look forward to presenting the results of the survey at our webinar on 10 September 2020.
Any questions? Please ask
I would like to again say that I am always available should you wish to raise any issues with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me and I will be happy to provide whatever assistance I can.
