SYDNEY, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Premier of Australia's New South Wales (NSW) state Gladys Berejiklian has flagged a plan to get international students back into the state and save regional universities and towns.
Berejiklian told reporters on Thursday that the current two-week hotel quarantine system for returning Australians could also work for students eager to come back.
"International students are critical to our economy," Berejiklian said.
"Regional universities won't survive unless they can get some of their students back. We are contemplating how we can accelerate that."
The premier noted that this was still in the "formative stage" and discussions were still underway with federal governments.
The federal government has previously outlined the possibility of allowing international students travel in stage three of its plan to lift restrictions.
Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt on Wednesday urged universities to put forward feasible solutions to bring international students back to campuses.
"We are welcoming of proposals for universities to look at means of bringing back through supervised, stringent quarantine, international students," Hunt said.
"That is something that both state and federal governments would be willing to consider."
The sector's peak body Universities Australia has estimated that more than 21,000 jobs are at risk in the next six months due to a significant decline in international students enrolments. Enditem
