New Delhi, (IANS) India and Australia, in their first meeting of the joint working group on student mobility, have agreed to tackle unscrupulous education agents and check institutes offering poor quality of education.

A press release of the Australian high commission here Friday said that both countries have agreed on a number of concrete measures to enhance the interests and welfare of Indian students in Australia.

‘Both sides recognise that poor quality and unscrupulous education providers are simply unacceptable,’ said a joint statement issued after the meeting held on Oct 6.

The Indian delegation was led by joint secretary, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, G. Gurucharan and the Australian side was led by Deputy High Commissioner Lachlan Strahan and chief executive officer of Australian Education International Colin Walters.

The joint working group decided to conclude talks on a memorandum of understanding on better management of student mobility between two countries, including the exchange of information on undesirable or illegal activities by agents, said Strahan in the high commission’s statement.

The two countries will collaborate in developing robust regulatory mechanism for the activities of education providers and enrolment agents.

Recently, there have been a series of incidents in Australia where Indian students have been robbed or attacked, leading to protests by the Indian government.

-- IANS