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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-09-23 Daily Xml
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HIGHER EDUCATION

Ms THOMPSON (Reynell) (14:16): Can the Premier inform the house of recent developments in the South Australian higher education sector?

The Hon. M.D. RANN (Ramsay—Premier, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Social Inclusion, Minister for the Arts, Minister for Sustainability and Climate Change) (14:17): Earlier today, I witnessed the international private education provider Kaplan and the University of Adelaide sign a memorandum of understanding to investigate the establishment of a Kaplan University campus in Adelaide. I was delighted to be joined by the minister for further education.

I note that members opposite know about Kaplan; I can tell by their riveted expressions. It is owned by the Washington Post. In fact, Don Graham, who was, of course, the chairman of the Washington Post Group and the former publisher of the Washington Post—perhaps better known to older members as the son of Katharine Graham—was here in Adelaide this morning to seal that partnership.

The partnership between Kaplan and the University of Adelaide will see both universities working together to expand access to high-quality career-oriented education programs for domestic students, as well as international students. This partnership offers the opportunity to further enhance South Australia's reputation for delivering world-class education. It also adds to Adelaide's standing as a University City of renown.

The objectives of bringing together the University of Adelaide with one of the world's biggest education providers—Kaplan—will provide local and international students with a wider range of study options to fit their different needs. Of course, members on the other side will remember when there were 6,000 overseas students in Adelaide. Today, there are about 30,000 overseas students. It is now our fourth biggest export. We expect that to rise within a few years to more than 60,000 students.

Of course, Kaplan—which is about basically offering education through online and other sources—is a way of building a bridge to people who would not normally see higher education as part of their life opportunities. So, it brings together Kaplan's reach and technology with the University of Adelaide's excellence. As I understand it—and the minister will correct me if I am wrong—the University of Adelaide has had more Nobel prize winners than, I think, any other university in Australia.

Kaplan University is part of Kaplan Higher Education, which serves more than 100,000 students through 70-plus campus-based schools and online operations across the United States and other parts of the world. The proposal being pursued by Kaplan and the University of Adelaide is a neat fit with our University City concept. There is no doubt that this new venture could offer significant opportunities to provide even more South Australians—as well as interstate and overseas students—with access to higher education. In particular, I am pleased that this partnership is aimed at achieving high levels of participation from under-represented groups including working adults, students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, and students in regional and remote areas.

I have already mentioned that this is good for the economy. Education is now South Australia's fourth largest export, and our state is outperforming the rest of the nation in growth in attracting international students. Recent figures show a 23.1 per cent increase in the number of international students commencing studies in South Australia in the year to July 2009, which is higher than the national average. It has been a partnership between us, the universities, TAFEs and schools.

This year 14,802 new international students have begun their studies in South Australia. As I said, this has lifted our total number of international students to a record 29,563. Compare that to the lack of achievement under the former government, where we were the most underdone in Australia in terms of international students. To give you a comparison, and as I said, at the start of this decade the number of overseas students in our state education system was around 6,000.

Students from more than 130 nations have chosen to pursue their education in Adelaide, and international education is worth more than $740 million a year to our economy. I am announcing a target today that we will achieve more than 62,000 international students in South Australia by 2014, employing thousands of South Australians—and we are tracking in the right direction to meet those targets. This arrangement with Kaplan today will certainly assist.

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