13 February 2024 at 10:30 am
International team 2023 highlights
Some of ENZ’s offshore team members share their personal highlights from a jam-packed 2023.
In Latin America, the main highlight for Director of Engagement Latin America, Javiera Visedo was welcoming students and institutions back to Chile, Colombia and Brazil.
“Nothing replaces the face-to-face connections and conversations and I’m thrilled to see that these engagements have led to success for the institutions, and great memories to students” she said.
Caption: A group of Prime Minister’s Scholarship for Latin America awardees from Lincoln University gathered together to acknowledge Waitangi Day while studying in Bogota.
In Thailand, Market Manager, Chortip Pramoolpol’s highlight is her ongoing engagements with partners in Nakhon Sawan Province.
This work included facilitating a Memorandum of Understanding agreement between 13 schools from Canterbury New Zealand and nine schools in Nakhon Sawan in May.
“The results of these efforts are now becoming apparent, with students and teachers applying to pursue both short and long-term studies in New Zealand” she said.
Caption: Chortip Pramoolpol (holding ‘Think New’ sign) at the MoU signing event.
ENZ Market Development Manager Europe Adina Stoye said she enjoyed nurturing essential connections and supporting NZ tertiary providers at the 2023 EAIE conference. It was the largest EAIE ever, with over 6,700 attendees from over 100 countries.
Caption: Adina Stoye (fourth from right) with ENZ representatives, sector representatives and partners gathered at the New Zealand pavilion at EAIE 2023.
In India, Market Development Manager, Monika Chaudhury said 2023 has been a year filled with projects and activities that were focused at bringing New Zealand to the forefront in the “expansive and competitive” market of India.
New Zealand-India Week in April was a big project for the India team, which helped build and strengthen connections between NZ and Indian institutions. The week saw the signing of a memorandum of understanding between New Zealand universities and IIT Delhi, India, to strengthen ongoing engagement.
“What I particularly loved was my interactions with students, stakeholders and influencers in proudly projecting New Zealand as a safe and quality destination at schools, universities, virtual forums and more” she said.
Caption: Dr James Gomes, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi Dean International and Dr Erik Lithander, University of Auckland Deputy Vice-Chancellor Strategic Engagement sign a Memorandum of Understanding between New Zealand’s eight Universities and IIT Delhi.
In Indonesia, Programme Manager Naluri Bella’s highlight was the fourth annual KIWI Challenge. Through the competition, the students are asked to address a societal problem in Indonesia and develop a solution to help resolve it. The 2023 theme was “Reforming Indonesia’s mobility and smart cities using AI technology”.
This year, ENZ partnered up with AUT and she was proud to report that the competition received the highest number of video submissions (59 videos from 37 schools) in the past four years.
Caption: Naluri Bella (second from left) with the winning team from UniSadhuGuna International College.
A big highlight for the China team was the Early Childhood Education Symposium in September. It was well attended and attracted a live audience of 350 attendees and a record high number of livestream audience of over 100,000.
The Symposium generated visibility for New Zealand, with 45 media articles (accounting for almost four million views), which included reporting from top tier Chinese media. Many connections and leads for New Zealand participants were created during and after the symposium.
Caption: The ECE Symposium audience in Nanjing take notes during the presentations.
In Viet Nam, a highlight for Market Manager Van Banh and Programme Manager Tam Ngo was The New Zealand Future Skills Camp (NZFSC), which is aimed at providing a fun platform for young age students (12 to 16 years old) in Vietnam to get equipped with global citizen skills to prepare them for the future. NZFSC attracted around 70 teams (350 students) registered in its first year. In 2023, the team were pleased to see an increase in received applications, with 165 teams (825 students) from 18 provinces and cities in Viet Nam registering.
The Vietnam team has also been focusing on hosting successful New Zealand Education Fairs with a reduced carbon footprint. The team replaced traditional printed backdrops with digital ones shown on TV screens for each booth, significantly reducing waste and energy usage from the fairs. The fair in Ho Chi Minh City was a roaring success, with over 500 visitors through the event with 385 leads generated and in Ha Noi there were about 400 people resulting in 258 student leads.
Caption: Attendees of the 2023 New Zealand Future Skills Camp at their award ceremony.
