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  • Eighth Education Joint Working Group meeting held

    The Chinese delegation was led by Vice Minister of Education Dr Hao Ping. He was accompanied by senior officials from China’s Ministry of Education, the China Scholarship Council (CSC) and the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE). 

    Before the JWG, Vice Minister Hao and his delegation called on Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce, where a range of issues of mutual interest were discussed.

    The JWG is the formal mechanism under which discussions take place between government officials on the bilateral education and training relationship. Established in 2002 – and the first such consultations between China and any foreign country – these meetings provide the opportunity to take stock of what has been achieved and to chart a strategic course for the future.

    “The importance of having such periodic and “formal” consultations can’t really be overstated”, says ENZ's Regional Director – Greater China Alexandra Grace. 

    “Between JWGs there is of course regular interaction, both at ministerial and officials’ level, but the JWG process brings with it its own kind of discipline.  Both sides are acutely aware of the need to evidence progress on both standing agenda items, as well as on newer initiatives.  It is the perfect 'action-forcing' occasion, which also nicely evidences how the bilateral education relationship involves a range of actors on each side”.

    This year’s meeting discussed the promotion of student mobility between New Zealand and China, the teaching of Chinese culture and language in New Zealand, cooperation between education institutions at schooling and tertiary levels, quality assurance projects, New Zealand’s involvement in Chinese training programmes and the implementation of Free Trade Agreement related education initiatives.

    ENZ will follow up on specific opportunities that were discussed during the meeting and liaise with relevant sector peak bodies as appropriate. 

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    Above:Members of the New Zealand and Chinese delegations enjoy a nice Wellington day after the conclusion of the 8th JWG meeting.

    Two arrangements were signed at the meeting, covering qualification recognition and cooperation in higher and vocational education:

    • 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

    • The Arrangement to Operationalise the Vocational Education and Training Model Programme in place between the Ministry of Education of New Zealand and the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China

    An Agreement on Cooperation in Higher Education between Universities’ New Zealand and China Education Association for International Exchange was renewed.

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    Above: Universities New Zealand representative Derek McCormack signs a cooperation agreement with CEAIE Secretary-General Sheng Jianxue, witnessed by Peter Hughes and Dr Hao Ping.

    New Zealand’s delegation was led by Secretary for Education Peter Hughes. ENZ Chief Executive Grant McPherson joined NZQA Chief Executive Dr Karen Poutasi and officials from the Ministry of Education, ENZ, NZQA, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in the meeting. 

    Derek McCormack, Vice Chancellor of AUT University, represented Universities New Zealand to discuss cooperation in higher education and Mark Flowers, Chief Executive of Waikato Institute of Technology, represented New Zealand’s institutes of technology in vocational education discussions.

    The last JWG meeting was held in Beijing in 2010. The next JWG meeting is scheduled for 2016. 

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    Above: ENZ Education Manager An Jiangqun (Rosemary) interprets at the JWG meeting. Rosemary’s skills as a trained interpreter came in handy during technical discussions on education cooperation. 

  • EdTech connections good for business

    This was the view from Education New Zealand hosted networking events for over 40 representatives from the edtech sector in Wellington, Auckland and Dunedin last month. 

    It was a great opportunity to share development and export experiences and meet like-minded business contacts. As well as making new business connections, attendees were interested in ways to create more opportunities to learn and collaborate. 

    Bennett Medary, Chairman of the NZ Technology Industry Association, spoke to the meetings about creating a group of edtech members under the NZTech umbrella. Edtech investor, Dr Sue Watson, Chief Executive of Summit Education Asia Pacific, facilitated the discussion.

    Views were varied but overall attendees were positive about the formation of an edtech sector group, particularly as part of a well-established industry association. There was interest in a group that connected widely across sectors including with educators, other tech companies and investors. 

    Chris Bulman of Bud-e-Digital said: “Getting together is important so you can learn from what others are doing and joining with NZTech would mean that edtech companies are hooked into the wider tech sector.“

    Other priorities expressed for the group included coordination and monitoring of international research and trends, support to take New Zealand companies to market, and established opportunities for networking and real collaboration.

    “Working together means the sector can have more resources to build the reputation of New Zealand edtech which is good for us all,” said Joanne Ho of Kiwa Digital.

    NZTech and ENZ are working on the formation of an edtech group and will be contacting people who offered support at the meetings to help develop a programme for the group to grow the value of the edtech sector.

    To learn more about global edtech opportunities and New Zealand’s special advantages – a high quality education system and an innovative, problem solving culture - watch this video from the EdTech for Export conference held in late June this year.

  • INZ’s new eMedical system

    About 20 percent of visa applicants require a physical health assessment as part of their application. Replacing INZ’s existing paper-based medical certificate, eMedical will be used by INZ’s panel physicians to record results of an applicants’ immigration medical examination. This information is provided to Immigration New Zealand through a secure online channel and in most cases, will not need manual assessment by immigration officers.

    In the first stage, eMedical is available to six offshore countries - Cambodia, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, the United Arab Emirates and Viet Nam.

    There will be a second rollout stage at the end of January 2015 to all offshore eMedical-enabled countries. The final rollout stage will be onshore in New Zealand from the end of March 2015, coinciding with the establishment of INZ’s new onshore panel physician network.

    Paper-based certificates will continue to be used in countries where eMedical is not available.

    For more information visit INZ’s website.

  • Education publishers to go to TIBE 2015

    New Zealand is Guest of Honour at next year’s event and we are part of a wider sponsors group that includes the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Creative New Zealand, MFAT and the Publishers Association of New Zealand.

    Six educational publishers – Lanky Hippo, ESA Publications, Wendy Pye Publishing, MJA Publishing, NZCER and Clean Slate Press – are attending the book fair to promote their educational products and services.

    “This is the largest offshore presence of education publishers since the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2012,” said David Glover who is managing the project for the Publishers Association.

    “Research shows that one third of New Zealand’s education publishing income is earned from exports and TIBE is a valuable opportunity for publishers to make connections in the Asian market.”

    “TIBE is also a big public fair that attracts almost half a million visitors. With New Zealand as Guest of Honour we should be able to raise the profile of both New Zealand publishers and our education system in general.”

    Over the past 28 years the Wendy Pye Group has worked in many Asian countries, including Taiwan and China.

    “Our flagship product, Sunshine Classics, has already been sold into mainland China and will be released as a celebration package for the Chinese New Year, in Chinese and English in both print and as apps for Apple iPads,” said Wendy Pye.

    “While in Taipei, the company will be involved in a discussion for a collection of the best of Margaret Mahy titles in picture book format for translation into Chinese.”

    Clean Slate Press also have experience in Asia but are looking to get into Taiwan specifically.

    “We are currently selling in China through an agent and have distributors in Singapore and Hong Kong but are keen to expand our base,” said Sandy Roydhouse of Clean Slate Press.

    “PANZ are doing the groundwork around TIBE and getting Taiwanese publishers on board which should make all the difference this year.”

    “Along with our range of maths and literacy books, we are the exclusive education publisher of Joy Cowley titles and she is well-loved in Asia.”

    For David Ellis of the New Zealand Council for Educational Research, TIBE is the opportunity to test the water in Asia.

    “NZCER Press is a small publisher with a long history publishing research-informed content for the education sector in New Zealand. We need to strengthen our international reach to continue to attract the best authors and to ensure the sustainability of our organisation.”

    “We are particularly strong in teacher education, with a lot of interest internationally in our indigenous and early childhood education publishing programmes.”

    “It is difficult to build relationships from a distance and so going as part of a group to this major fair should make it easier for us to meet with the right people and establish connections.”

    “We will also be meeting with the Taiwanese Education Research Association which is a similar organisation to our own. We hope they can help us to understand the market in Taiwan and wider Asia, including partnership opportunities involving our new online assessment platform", said David.

    For more information and news about TIBE 2015 visit http://www.publishers.org.nz/news/

  • Manawatu hosts agents

    “A successful famil tour provides a holistic experience for the agents, and gives them first-hand knowledge and experience from which to recommend Palmerston North and Manawatu to prospective students and parents,” said Lesley McDonald, Co-Chair of International Education Manawatu (IEM).

    “We decided that we would split the agents into two groups – those focussed on the tertiary sector and those on the secondary sector. That way, the agents in each group could focus on their specific sector and spend more time at the relevant institutions,” said Lesley.

    The agent visit was timed to coincide with the Massey University graduation ceremony, demonstrating the successful outcome of study.

    To give them a taste of the Manawatu student lifestyle, the agents stayed with homestay families in the region.

    “We recognised that international education is more than the study experience – it also includes a safe lifestyle, leisure activities, internship and part-time employment opportunities which lead to residency and employment.”

    “The agents saw the Royal New Zealand Ballet perform at the Regent Theatre in Palmerston North and had a trip to Wellington. One agent even stayed on an extra day to take part in a tour of Wairarapa wineries!”

    For the visiting agents the visit was an immersion in what it’s like to live and study in Palmerston North and the Manawatu region, and for the education providers it was a chance to showcase the best their institution and the region has to offer.

    For both, it was an invaluable relationship-building experience.

    “We have received very positive feedback from the visiting agents who wish to build on the relationships with the educational providers that they met and interacted with”, said Lesley.

    To fund the agent visit a cross-sector group of education providers – all members of IEM – pooled their resources, with some additional funding was provided by Education New Zealand’s Regional Agent Funding programme.

  • US students win NZ study experience

    The collaboration is part of Education New Zealand’s commitment to the Institute of International Education’s Generation Study Abroad initiative to double the number of students from the United States who study abroad by 2018,

    Participating universities and ITPs funded US$500 tuition or living costs awards, and ENZ funded US$2,000 travel awards to help students pay for their flight to New Zealand.

    Eleven students were offered the US$500 university or ITP excellence awards to study at the University of Auckland, AUT, Unitec, Massey University, the University of Waikato, Victoria University of Wellington, the University of Canterbury, Otago Polytechnic and the University of Otago, and four students (including one who also received an institute award) were offered the US$2,000 travel awards to study at the University of Auckland, the University of Waikato, Massey University Wellington, and the University of Otago.

    As part of the application process, students were required to submit a blog or video explaining why they wanted to study in New Zealand. “The standard of applications received was very high, and their blogs and videos were inventive and entertaining,” said Amy Rutherford, International Market Manager, North America.

    “I can’t wait to see what the students get up to during their time in New Zealand!”

    You can view the application blogs and videos through the links below.

    Phillomena Wong from the University of Southern California, recipient of an AUT University excellence award                 

    Emily Garrett from Park University, recipient of a Massey University excellence award

    Allison Cluett from Brown University, recipient of a University of Otago excellence award

    Nicole Guinn from the University of Mary Washington, recipient of a University of Otago excellence award

    Reese Sun from the University of Texas at Austin, recipient of ENZ travel award, studying at the University of Otago

    Zoa Smalley from the Kansas City Art Institute, recipient of an Otago Polytechnic excellence award

    Leo Valdez from the University of Central Missouri, recipient of a Unitec excellence award

    Sara Lobdell from Franklin and Marshall College, recipient of a University of Auckland excellence award, and an ENZ travel award

    Yasaman Sahba from Southern Methodist University, recipient of University of Canterbury excellence award

    Abe Levitan from Olin College, recipient of a Victoria University of Wellington excellence award

    Logan Coffman from the University of Colorado at Boulder, recipient of a Victoria University of Wellington excellence award

    Annalisa Palmer from the University of Nevada, recipient of an ENZ travel award, studying at Massey University Wellington

    Kora Nixon from Michigan State University, recipient of a University of Waikato excellence award

    Dustin Flores from Utah State University, recipient of ENZ travel award, studying at the University of Waikato. 

  • New Zealand in Norway

    The ENZ Europe team recently attended student recruitment fairs in Norway’s capital city of Oslo and its second most populous city, Bergen.

    The New Zealand booth attracted a high number of students, mostly school leavers on the verge of deciding where to study, and all keen to hear about the possibilities for study in one of the lesser known education destinations.

    ENZ’s Senior Market Development Manager in Europe, Ute Haug, says, “New Zealand is an attractive country for Norwegian students, offering a relaxing lifestyle and exciting outdoor experiences, along with a high-value education that is recognised by Norwegian institutions and even funded, in some cases, by the Norwegian government.”

    As is the case in most markets, the first step in the Nordic region is still to raise awareness of New Zealand – and New Zealand education – in general.

    “New Zealand’s location and relatively low profile does not make it an obvious choice for students, especially given the rich array of study destinations available in their neighbourhood.

    “It’s important to be present in a market if we are to be on the radar of these students as they scan the options for overseas education, and participating in education fairs is one way of doing that”, says Ute.

    In Oslo, ENZ was privileged to secure a presentation slot as part of the official fair programme, with ENZ and Immigration New Zealand also jointly hosting an agent workshop for Norwegian and Swedish education agents in the Norwegian capital.

    To find out more about the opportunities in Norway, and other European countries, please email our Europe team.

  • Funding recipients announced

    Projects include the development of science, maths and literacy resources; marketing in Germany, the United States and the Middle East; and a visit to New Zealand by bloggers from Colombia and Japan.

    “Education publishers and ed-tech providers feature in the list of IEGF recipients which is a positive sign for businesses engaged in offshore delivery,” said Business Development Manager, Adele Bryant.

    “There is a lot of potential for growth in this sector and we are excited to support New Zealand businesses to take their innovation to the world.”

    The IEGF is designed to help New Zealand’s education providers achieve significant growth by making the most of international education opportunities.

    Grants from the IEGF contestable fund aim to boost innovation in international education, including the development of new markets and new products to meet the needs of international students. Education providers and businesses can apply for matched funding up to $50,000.

    Read Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce’s media release: http://beehive.govt.nz/release/funding-round-targets-ed-tech-expansion

    Applications for the next round of International Education Growth Fund will open in March 2015.

  • Sister Schools Fund open

    The fund is open to all New Zealand schools. Grants of approximately $2,000 - $3,000 per school will be awarded to successful schools to establish new sister school relationships, or to strengthen existing relationships, with a focus on sister cities/provinces.

    The fund was announced during the Joint Working Group which took place during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to New Zealand in November 2014.

    This initiative will support schools to deliver on the Government’s Leadership Statement for International Education, which seeks to increase New Zealanders’ skills and knowledge to operate effectively across cultures. The fund also delivers an outcome from the School Sector International Education Roadmap, in which schools expressed a desire to grow institutional partnership channels with offshore schools.

    A sister school partnership is a planned collaboration designed to offer the partners mutual benefit. Applicants need to explain how their planned activity will contribute to strong sister school relationships which foster learning opportunities, cross-cultural skills development and friendship between our two countries.

    Activities may include (but need not be limited to);

    • staff and/or student exchange

    • curriculum-based collaborative projects

    • enhanced language programmes.

  • NZ publishers optimistic about Korean market

    Korea is the world’s tenth largest publishing market, valued at an estimated NZ$5.4 billion. Children’s books enjoy the largest market share at 16 percent – if multi-volume sets were included the children’s book would account for 30 percent of the total market.

    “We’ve had 17 one-on-one, high-quality meetings over the two days of our visit thanks to Education New Zealand having done a lot of preliminary scoping in advance. The reception at the New Zealand Embassy in Seoul was a further opportunity to build networks, and was well attended,” said David Glover, Publishers Association of New Zealand’s project manager responsible for the trade mission to Korea.

    “The Korean education publishing market is both sophisticated and highly competitive. Publishers have good knowledge of what other major countries such as the US and UK have to offer. So it was very encouraging that so many local publishers took the time to meet visiting New Zealand publishers.”

    Joy Allcock of MJA Publishing found that travelling in a group with support of ENZ was helpful in opening the right doors.

    "In Seoul, David Glover and Onnuri Lee [ENZ Market Development Manager]did an incredible job – the visit was well-organised and researched. The people I met were preselected and were already interested in the product. They were ready to provide helpful feedback," said Joy. 

    In Hong Kong, Joy was invited to present to 200 early childhood teachers by the Bureau of Education, an opportunity that would not have been offered if she had been visiting as a single company.   

    David noted that selling our learning material to Asia is challenging.

    “It is clear that NZ publishers will have to adapt their materials quite extensively to local market conditions if they wish to succeed here. But initial feedback from the visiting publishers is very positive and there are a number of good leads to follow up and hopefully turn into long term contracts,” said Glover.

    The four educational publishers, ESA Publications, Lanky Hippo Publishing, MJA Publishing, and Wendy Pye Publishing visited Korea and were joined in Hong Kong by academic publisher NZCER before all travelling to the Taipei International Book Exhibition 11 – 16 February 2015.  

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