Plan could open way for thousands of Asian students

REGIONAL universities around the country could play a key role in a return to the Australia-Asia education exchange as part of a new Colombo Plan, a report from a conservative think tank revealed on Wednesday. The report, from the National Party-affiliated Page Research Centre, outlines how such a program would work, what it would cost, and the need for a central role of Australia's regional university in the plan.

In the 1950s, the Colombo Plan played a vital role in Australia's foreign relations in Asia, and led to thousands of Asian students attended universities here. A major report on the first years of the plan released in 2005 revealed about 2000 Asian students came to Australia between 1949 and 1957, a figure which grew to more than 20,000 by 1980, before the scheme was superseded. More...