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  • Celebrating our education ties with Thailand

    Students and their families were able to explore a variety of international study options available in New Zealand with 50 New Zealand institutions providing high-quality representation and advice on the New Zealand education offering.

    Ziena Jalil, Education New Zealand Regional Director South – South East Asia, said: “The fact that New Zealand education institutions have visited Thailand every year for 20 years to demonstrate the benefits of studying with them in New Zealand, illustrates our long-term commitment to Thailand and to our Thai partners.”

    “This year’s theme for the fair was “New Experiences, New Ideas” and it was important to have the full range of New Zealand institutions and sectors to show the true spirit of New Zealand where new thinking is celebrated and where there are multiple opportunities.”

    “With more than 3,000 Thai students studying in New Zealand this year, we are already providing high quality education and life-changing experiences for many Thai students” said Ziena.

    Over 400 people attended the fair representing an increase of seven percent from last year, with pre-event publicity including media releases and a media briefing to encourage student registration and boost awareness of the fair.

    The fair was the peak event for New Zealand education in Thailand following our August roadshow to Thai secondary schools in Bangkok, promoting New Zealand study opportunities and particularly English language courses. As part of the roadshows ENZ visited three schools and participated in an exhibition held by a network of Thai public schools offering English language programmes.

    Education New Zealand also takes this opportunity to provide you with a resourcing update for Thailand. Recruitment is well underway for a new Marketing and Strategic Relationships Manager to be based in Bangkok. Sarah Stabler, ENZ’s Lead – Public Relations/Marketing (SSEA) is your contact point for all ENZ activity in Thailand so please contact Sarah if you have any Thailand related queries sarah.stabler@enz.govt.nz. We wish to thank Gewalin Lertrasameewong, known to most of us as Nan, for her work over the years with ENZ and the former trust. Nan finished with ENZ on Friday 26 September and we wish her all the very best. 

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  • Game On English a hit in Tokyo

    The event provided an opportunity to showcase the benefits of the programme and to get feedback from the students to help with discussions on the further development of the programme.
     
    Held at the New Zealand Embassy in Tokyo, the event brought together the students, Japanese Ministry of Education officials, Japan Rugby Union representatives, media and other stakeholders. Adding real star power to the event was Black Ferns Captain Huriana Manuel – along with a black moonboot – following up on her attendance at the launch of Game On English in Auckland back in July. 
     
    Students from both of the pilots presented on their experience in New Zealand– many in English. The students were full of confidence and enthusiasm about what they had learnt and experienced in New Zealand.
     
    Vice Minister for Education Shinichi Yamanaka spent time with the students as they talked about their time in New Zealand. Chairman of the Japanese Rugby Football Union, Tatsuzo Yabe also attended the event and spoke positively about this NZ Inc. initiative. Both commented on the holistic nature of the programme, equally developing students’ English language and rugby skills which are necessary to play at the top level. 
     
    Japan is now looking towards hosting the 2019 Rugby World Cup and the 2020 Olympics which will feature Sevens Rugby, sparking an increased interest in rugby in Japan. We are now exploring how the Game On English programme might be developed in 2015 and beyond. 
     
    Two teams participated in the pilot programmes. The first, a top girls’ sevens team from Iwami Chisuikan High School spent four weeks in Auckland working on their English with the Auckland Institute of Studies and their rugby skills with the Auckland Rugby Academy. Their visit coincided with Japanese Prime Minister Abe’s visit to New Zealand, and he and Prime Minister Key launched Game On English in style in Auckland.
     
    Player Ran Aoki said: “The best part of the programme was the training. Auckland Rugby made it fun and give invaluable comments and feedback.
     
    “Kiwis value the quality of training in a given timeframe over accumulated hours which allowed us to get the most out of our short stay in New Zealand.”
     
    The second team in the Game On English pilot was a group of 11 boys from the 11 schools making up the Kanto Super League who were in Dunedin from mid-July through early August. The boys divided their time between the gym and training ground with the Otago Rugby Football Union and the classroom at the University of Otago Language Centre.
     
    “Partnerships between English language schools and rugby unions were key to the success of the pilot programmes. For the month they were in New Zealand, the students were fully immersed in an English speaking environment which started with their homestay families and went on the through the classroom and into their rugby,” said Francesca Hilbron, ENZ’s International Market Manager.
     
    “And they’ve had a New Zealand rugby experience that could see them on the way to being stars of the future.”
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  • $10 million fund to support teaching of Asian languages

    The first call for registration of interest is open from 13 October to 20 November 2014. All state and state-integrated schools can apply for funding under ALLiS.

    The Government wants to increase second language learning for all students. As well as learning our national and official languages (English, Te Reo Māori, and New Zealand Sign Language), and Pasifika languages, New Zealand needs to increase the number of students learning Asian languages to support our growing trade and international relationships with key Asian countries.

    ALLiS will support schools by setting up new, or strengthening existing, Asian language programmes. ALLiS funding is available for up to 90 schools or clusters of schools, with particular emphasis on those that establish language learning pathways from primary through to secondary schools. The fund will encourage greater collaboration amongst schools in partnership with external Asian Language and Cultural organisations. Once the funding ends, programmes are expected to be self-sustaining.

    China, Japan and Korea are amongst our top five trading partners but the number of students learning these languages in our schools is relatively low compared to other international languages. In 2013, only two secondary schools offered Korean, fewer than 40 schools offered Mandarin Chinese, while Japanese was offered by 160 secondary schools.

    For more information on the ALLiS programme and the funding process visit the Ministry of Education website.

  • Rosehill College and Te Hihi primary school partnership thrives

    Just ten minutes down the road, Te Hihi School is a full primary school in rural Karaka with around 200 students and 17 staff. Rosehill College has a well-established international student programme and Te Hihi is just starting out.

    “In the past we have had the odd Korean student come to our school, but with Anne’s help we have developed an international student business plan, I’ve been to an ENZ fair in Guangzhou and we’ve hosted a study group from Taiwan,” says Kevin Bush, principal at Te Hihi School.

    Anne Henwood is the Director of International Students at Rosehill College and she takes Te Hihi’s marketing material with her whenever she goes overseas.

    “Our relationship with Te Hihi school is a real pleasure – and it makes good sense,” says Anne.

    “As well as offering families a pathway for their child from primary to secondary education, our relationship shows we have strong connection with the local community and a serious commitment to our children.”

    With a pathway through to Rosehill College, a Te Hihi School student can stay within the area and possibly with the same homestay family for the full course of their schooling in New Zealand.

    Kevin has also noticed the benefit of having international students in the school on his Kiwi students.

    “In August we had a year 8 short term study group come from Taiwan for five weeks – our children had their eyes opened as they got to know children from another culture. Asia is an area that they don’t get a lot of exposure to but going forward as a country, Asia is going to be important to them as adults,” says Kevin.

    “The children that come to New Zealand on their own show remarkable resilience. The friendships that they make while they are here, especially if they stay on for secondary school, are likely to last a lifetime – providing valuable global connections for our children.”

    In June, Anne hosted a visit by an agent from Guangzhou who spent the morning at Rosehill and the afternoon at Te Hihi.

    “The agent really enjoyed her visit and it was great to show her both schools in one day, to demonstrate the strength of our working relationship and what we have to offer as a package,” says Anne.

    “Back in her office in China she will have a much better understanding of our education system and everything we have to offer when she is talking to parents about sending their child to New Zealand.”

    Marketing as a team is a long term proposition that will only bear fruit over time. As principal of a small rural school, Kevin is realistic about their capacity for international students.

    “I’m planning for around six international students to come to Te Hihi over the next couple of years which seems like a low target but I am excited by the diversity even a small number of students will bring to our school,” says Kevin.

    Anne agrees saying: “International students bring culture and diversity, as well as a willingness to learn, to be part of the whole English environment.”

    “Some Rosehill students may never get the opportunity to travel so the experience they get at school with other cultures becomes very important.”

  • From Vermont to Victoria University

    Emma McDonough Faucher, a college student from Castleton in the state of Vermont, was one of 1089 applicants from 615 US universities to apply for the scholarship. She impressed the selection panel with her knowledge of New Zealand and desire to understand and experience the Kiwi lifestyle and culture, including Māoritanga.

    “I have wanted to study abroad my entire life and New Zealand has been my goal,” said Emma. 

    “Māori culture is one of the things I am especially looking forward to learning about – I find it interesting that Maori people describe themselves by their tribe (iwi), sub-tribe (hapū), mountain (maunga), and river (awa).”

    ENZ’s Regional Director for the Americas, Lisa Futschek said, “The creativity and passion of Emma’s submission distinguished it from the large number of other very impressive applications. The fact that she plays rugby also makes this a good match!”

    US students choose New Zealand as an education destination because of the unique study experience we offer – a high-quality education in an English-speaking country with a distinct culture and lifestyle. Students who come here are often adventure seekers who enjoy the great outdoors and like to get off the beaten track, but also want to enjoy the vibrant city life.

    ENZ partnered with leading study abroad advisory service, Go Overseas to run a six week campaign across the US from 1 September to 15 October. During this time over 26,000 people visited the campaign page, and 2,600 study abroad advisers and over 1500 universities were contacted and notified of the scholarship.

    Leads from scholarship applicants and others who registered interest have been referred to participating New Zealand education providers.

    “As well as giving a lucky student the chance to study in New Zealand, campaigns such as this are an important part of ENZ’s work to raise awareness around the world of New Zealand’s high-quality education offering,” said Lisa.

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    Left to right: Sam Hoben, Education New Zealand Market Development Manager USA, Emma McDonough Faucher, scholarship winner, and Ana Maria Alfaro-Alexander, Ph. D, Study Abroad Advisor

     

  • Education in focus at Tourism Summit

    The summit focused on Tourism 2025, a framework aimed to achieve economic growth in the tourism industry including an aspirational goal to reach $41 billion in annual earnings by 2025.

    Grant was on a panel discussing the ‘target for value’ opportunities. International students and their families and friends are identified in the framework as one of the target markets that could deliver significant economic benefit to New Zealand.

    “I was keen to take the chance to remind the tourism industry that we are all part of the NZ Inc team. Raising awareness is important for both industries – people need to know about New Zealand to consider us as a destination as a student and a tourist,” said Grant.

    “With more than 97,000 international students, and growing, coming to New Zealand each year, that is 97,000 potential tourists who are in the main young, highly motivated and skilled communicators on social media. These students return home as advocates for New Zealand if we give them an experience of a lifetime – inspiring the next set of students and family and friends to come to this country.

    “And we know family and friends visit international students while they are studying in New Zealand, particularly around graduation or at the end of their programme so there are valuable connections to be made there.

    “The industry roadmaps tasked us with working more closely with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and Tourism New Zealand, finding opportunities for joined up activities with shared market intelligence and shared services.

    “Recent edu-tourism campaigns in Brazil and Japan targeting English language students gave us the chance to test the water working with Tourism New Zealand and 22 English Language Schools. Branded 100% Pure New Zealand we pitched this country as ‘the most exciting place to learn a new language’ and offered $300 of tourism activity with each enrolment during a specific timeframe.

    “The campaign worked well in Brazil in particular, generating a lot of enquiries and we will continue to monitor the results to see how many of these turn into enrolments.

    “At a more grassroots level, I encouraged tourism operators to meet with their local education institutions to understand the opportunities available to develop joint programmes or student-orientated initiatives. Tailoring services to the needs, ambitions and budgets of students will ensure they take some of the New Zealand spirit with them when they go home.

    “And of course it is a two-way street - if tourism operators are engaging with young visitors and their families who are passionate about New Zealand, why not suggest they consider studying in New Zealand,” said Grant.

  • Student ambassadors appointed in Christchurch

    “The Student Ambassador programme is one of several initiatives aimed at better supporting international students so that they make the most of their time in Christchurch and perhaps encouraging them to stay longer in the region,” said Richard Ashmore, International Student Pathway Coordinator with Christchurch Educated.

    “It is also a great personal development opportunity for the new ambassadors who will receive training and the chance to expand their own international networks.”

    The inaugural group of ambassadors is made up of 14 students from New Zealand, Australia, Afghanistan, India, China, Japan, Malaysia, Russia and the Philippines.

    “Some of the New Zealanders in the group benefitted from similar programmes during their own overseas study experience and want to help others in the same way,” said Richard.

    Izzie Guo arrived in Christchurch in 2009 totally unprepared for the shock of landing in a foreign environment with only a limited understanding of the language. She was fortunate to have amazing support from her homestay mum and senior classmates to help her adjust to a lifestyle, language and living environment vastly different to the one she had left behind in China. Now Izzie is looking forward to helping other international students faced with the challenges that come with embarking on a learning experience in a new country.

    “I have always wanted to help students new to Christchurch. I remember when I first arrived. I had many difficulties and so many people helped me in many ways. I want to give a little help and hopefully that can make a difference,” said Izzie.

    The student ambassadors are studying at mostly tertiary institutions including the University of Canterbury, Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology, Southland Institute of Technology, along with Middleton Grange and Kaiapoi high schools. 

    The student ambassadors were received into the programme by Christchurch Mayor Lianne Dalziel in mid-October. In addition to their mentoring duties, the ambassadors will represent Christchurch Educated and the city of Christchurch at official functions and international education visits and events. They will start in their roles as fully trained ambassadors in January 2015.

    Interest in the roles was so high that a second group of ambassadors will be inducted into the programme next year.

  • Roundtable explores distance education recognition

    The roundtable involved senior officials from Chinese education agencies and representatives from the University of Otago, Massey University, New Zealand Qualifications Authority, Universities New Zealand and Education New Zealand.

    The recognition of New Zealand distance education programmes has been an item of discussion between New Zealand and Chinese authorities for many years. Currently all foreign qualifications delivered by distance, or with a distance component, are not recognised by Chinese authorities.

    “This isn’t a New Zealand-specific issue,” says ENZ's Regional Director Alexandra Grace.  “We are very much at first steps, in terms of building understanding of how we assure quality outside of traditional face-to-face qualification delivery. Greater understanding of our processes may also contribute to China’s domestic reform of its local distance qualifications."

    The New Zealand-China Free Trade Agreement signed in 2008 included commitments to undertake work on “evaluation of the quality assurance criteria for qualifications which include a distance delivery component.”

    Discussions on the recognition of New Zealand distance education qualifications have been ongoing since then.

    The roundtable showcased Otago University’s renowned Master in Aviation Medicine qualification which is fully taught by distance and has been offered for over 26 years. Over 100 students are currently studying the programme from the Middle East, North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Graduates of the programme meet internationally recognised ‘best practice’ standards for aviation medicine practitioners and are frequently employed by airlines including Cathay Pacific, Emirates and Qantas.

    The roundtable also featured Massey University’s Master’s degree programmes in Veterinary Medicine (Biosecurity) and Public Health (Biosecurity) which has been completed by nine senior Chinese officials. The qualifications, which require four months to be spent at Massey and the remainder by distance study from China (one year in total), represent collaboration in teaching between Massey’s teaching and research groups, EpiCentre, and the Centre for Public Health Research. 

    Further work is slated on sharing of information and best practice.

  • Diplomas recognised by Chinese authorities

    Vice Minister of Education Dr Hao Ping and Secretary for Education Peter Hughes signed the Arrangement on Mutual Recognition of Academic Degrees in Higher Education between the Government of New Zealand and the Government of the People’s Republic of China at the 8th Joint Working Group on Education and Training. 

    The Arrangement, first signed in 2002, was updated and re-signed to take into account the range of changes  to the New Zealand Qualifications Framework and related settings that have occurred since 2002.

    In a new move, two and three year diplomas from New Zealand were also added to the list of qualifications officially recognised by Chinese authorities.

    The changes will see greater recognition of academic qualifications between New Zealand and China, making it easier for students to further their studies in either country.

    “This increases New Zealand’s attractiveness at a study destination and expands opportunities for New Zealanders looking to study in China,” said Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce when announcing the signing.

    When Chinese students return to China after their studies, they get their foreign qualifications verified by the China Service Center for Scholarly Exchange (CSCSE). The updates to the Arrangement ensure that a greater number of students receive the appropriate recognition, enabling them to gain official comparability of their qualifications within the Chinese system. 

  • Nine PTEs added to China study abroad list

    “This is an excellent outcome,” says ENZ's Regional Director Greater China – Alexandra Grace.  “It has been a challenging area of work, requiring close coordination between ENZ and NZQA and robust discussions with China’s Education Ministry.  Working closely, we were able to secure this outcome to the benefit of more of our outstanding private tertiaries.”

    The Jiaoyu Shewai Jianguan Xinx Wang (JSJ) Study Abroad website is maintained by the Chinese Ministry of Education and lists high quality tertiary education providers outside of China. Chinese students who are considering tertiary study overseas often use the website to decide where to study.

    The nine education providers that will be added to the JSJ Study Abroad website are:

    • Media Design School

    • New Zealand College of Chinese Medicine Limited

    • New Zealand School of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine

    • New Zealand Tertiary College Limited

    • SAE Institute

    • South Pacific College of Natural Medicine

    • The New Zealand College of Massage Limited

    • UUNZ Institute of Business Limited

    • Wellpark College of Natural Therapies Limited

    These PTEs join 32 other tertiary institutions on the New Zealand page.

    All the education providers being added to the website meet criteria that have been agreed with the Chinese Ministry of Education. The Chinese Ministry of Education will only add education providers which meet the following criteria:

    • be signatories to the Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students

    • have achieved ratings of at least Confident for both educational performance and capability in self-assessment in their most recent NZQA external evaluation and review report (Category 1 and 2 providers)

    • offer degrees (at Level 7 or above of the New Zealand Qualifications Framework)

    • not be specialist English language schools

    • not be distance learning schools

    • not deliver religious programmes.

    Throughout negotiations NZQA has advocated for the adoption of a criteria-based approach for the listing of further New Zealand PTEs. The rationale behind this approach is to allow for a regular review process, ensuring that PTEs on the list continue to meet criteria expected by the Chinese Ministry of Education, and allowing additional PTEs to be added to the list as they meet the criteria.

    The announcement of the addition of nine further high-quality PTEs is a positive step. ENZ and NZQA will continue to negotiate with the Chinese Ministry of Education on the use of the criteria as the basis for regular review and updates to the JSJ Study Abroad website list to ensure that prospective students and parents are able to access accurate and up-to-date information on their study options in New Zealand.

    Providers who are not listed on the website can point to their EER report and the following text on the JSJ website when dealing with Chinese students and partners:

    新西兰还有许多招收外国学生的私立培训机构及语言学校。通过新西兰资格认证局 (NZQA) 审批的学校名单可查阅NZQA网站：www.nzqa.govt.nz.

    New Zealand also has many private training institutions and language schools to recruit foreign students. The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) approved school list is available on the NZQA website: www.nzqa.govt.nz.
     
    The New Zealand page of the JSJ Study Abroad website can be viewed at http://www.jsj.edu.cn/n1/12040.shtml 

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