Comments on: the annual cycle http://wanderingdanny.com/oxford/2012/03/the-annual-cycle/ from downunder to dreaming spires Tue, 21 May 2013 10:44:38 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: DL http://wanderingdanny.com/oxford/2012/03/the-annual-cycle/comment-page-1/#comment-1596 DL Tue, 20 Mar 2012 13:15:22 +0000 http://wanderingdanny.com/oxford/?p=2624#comment-1596 The daffodils and cherry trees maybe in bloom; the seasons come and go, tourists are descending in bus loads in place of the vacationing student population in Oxford. But what about the rain, did it come? Is Oxford spared from the drought? I heard England is experiencing the driest spell ever, some rivers are completely dried up.

Did you know 75% of NSW was under water a week ago? It is a far cry when we used to read 75% or more of the state was declared drought stricken not so very long ago.

This is quite apart from the proportion of student to the total population in Sydney. It may not be as pronounced as in Oxford. But as a percentage of the total enrolment, the proportion of overseas students at universities are overwhelming.

Earlier this evening, I was attending my daughter's graduation ceremony at UNSW. She attained her vocational master's from the University's Australian School of Business. Page after page of the graduands are with Asian names, including the university medallist and the sole Ph D candidate, and mostly Chinese. You could count on the fingers of one hand of those with an Anglo family name.

It tells us three things : 1) education is indeed a major earner of export dollars. 2) the Chinese do emphasise education as a be all and end all means to security especially in fields of high demand. 3) the universities would find themselve in financial dire straits without the overseas income stream.

Is Oxford any different?

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