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A new home for international students
After extensive refurbishment, the Ellen Melville Centre and redesigned Freyberg Place in the heart of the city have re-opened to the public in September 2017.
The combined facility offers an open air public space for relaxing and enjoying the sunshine, as well as an indoor community centre with an exciting new range of programmes and activities – many of them free of charge.
The Auckland Agency Group (AAG), a cross-agency collaboration of central and local government agencies set up to improve international student wellbeing in Auckland, welcomes the new space and format.
Hayley Shields, ENZ’s Director of Student Experience and Chair of AAG, said the location of the new community centre makes it an ideal spot for international students to meet locals and other students.
“An estimated 20,000 international students reside in the CBD and want to be part of the local community.
“The centre will be a great place where international students can converge, meet and make new friends and feel part of the community.”
Formerly known as Pioneer Women’s and Ellen Melville Hall, the new Ellen Melville Centre has five diverse spaces that can be booked for meetings, private functions, exhibitions, films, concerts and performances.
Individuals, and arts, cultural and community groups interested in providing programmes at the centre are encouraged to make contact on this link.
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Taste of New Zealand in the heart of Seville
The European Association for International Education (EAIE) 2017 Conference and Exhibition in Seville attracted 6000 delegates from 95 countries, and is Europe’s largest annual event for the international education sector.
Seven New Zealand universities and four ITPs represented the sector this year.
ENZ’s Regional Director, Americas and Europe, Lisa Futschek, said EAIE was a valuable platform for New Zealand education providers to meet longstanding and new European and other partners.
“It was great to have many conference visitors comment that the New Zealand pavilion – yet again – was the most spectacular and creative stand.
“Our strong ongoing involvement in EAIE 2017 emphasised New Zealand’s importance as a global player in the international education sector.
“The interest in establishing academic collaborations with New Zealand, and our numerous engagements with international business partners demonstrate a huge growth potential for the Europe market.”
“As well as networking opportunities, the conference provided insights into key market developments in Europe and future trends in education.”
ENZ organised a special Kiwi networking function that offered about 100 guests a taste of New Zealand in the heart of Seville, Lisa said.
Among the evening’s highlights was a musical performance by Tamar, a New Zealand-born musician with Maori (Ngāi Tahu), Polynesian and European roots, who lives in Spain.
“She performed a personal, jazz-style interpretation of a collection of Māori songs composed by Māori artists from various iwi around New Zealand, which was beautiful.”
The 30th annual EAIE 2018 conference will take place 11–14 September 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland, with a theme of ‘facing outward’.
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Queenstown Resort College wins big at ITENZ Awards
QRC won the ‘Inaugural Supreme Award’ at the Independent Tertiary Education New Zealand (ITENZ) Awards.
QRC also won ‘Provider of the Year’, and Chief Executive Charlie Phillips was recognised with the ITENZ Leadership Award for his contribution to education and the Queenstown community.
The judges’ panel cited the college’s outstanding graduate outcomes and strong links to industry as key factors in its success.
The awards were presented at the World TVET 2017 Conference in Queenstown in mid-September.
The awards come off the back of another big win at the Tourism Industry Aotearoa’s New Zealand Tourism Awards, in which QRC took out the Industry Enabler Award for its ‘stand out’ Queenstown Ambassador Programme.
“It is fantastic for Queenstown Resort College to be recognised at a national level by both the tourism and education industries,” Charlie said.
“This will help further establish Queenstown as a serious study destination.”
In the past year, QRC has introduced a Graduate Diploma in Tourism and Hospitality Management, opened its Tai Tokerau Resort College in Paihia, and purchased a culinary school, now QRC Culinary.
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From Whangaparaoa to Colombia
As a recipient of the Prime Minister’s Scholarship for Latin America (PMSLA), Eve Bain, 23, is undertaking a two-semester exchange in Colombia to complete her Bachelor of Arts degree.
After finishing her LLB (Hons) at Victoria University of Wellington, Eve headed to Medellín, Colombia in January to study Political Science at Universidad EAFIT.
“I really wanted to immerse myself in a completely different culture and become fluent in Spanish,” she said.
“EAFIT is an extremely modern and impressive university and a lovely place to study. It’s been fascinating to study political science during the peace process in Colombia, and to talk to Colombians about their perspectives on the process too.”
Eve says some of the biggest differences in education between the two countries are the structure of classes at the university.
“Here there are no lectures. It’s more like college, with classes of 25 to 30 students. There are a lot of group projects and small quizzes, whereas at university in New Zealand you have two or three big independent assignments.”
Eve recently obtained the EAFIT Language Centre’s ‘scholarship to share culture and language,’ which will enable her to take Spanish-language classes while teaching English to children each week, using New Zealand culture and history as a platform.
“People often don’t know a lot about New Zealand but they know Lord of the Rings was filmed there and that our country is beautiful.
“I plan to bake Anzac cookies with them, and teach them some Kiwi slang, rugby and kapa haka!”
Eve describes the Colombian culture as vibrant and rich, and says the people are some of the friendliest she has met.
“It’s also been great to connect with Kiwis here through the scholarship – I even had dinner with New Zealand’s Ambassador to Chile and New Zealand’s Trade Commissioner for South America last month.”
Eve in San Agustin, where she “had the trip of a lifetime” doing a 6-day horse trek through the rain forest (despite no previous horse riding experience).
Eve is about to start her second semester of study before returning to New Zealand in December. She said so far she’s had nothing but positive experiences.
“I am really proud of my progress so far – I have improved my Spanish so much now that I am fairly fluent, and I have learned a lot about the history and culture of Colombia, and the region more generally.”
“I am also gaining skills that will be valuable for New Zealand in the future, particularly for my future goals of diplomacy and international dispute settlement.”
“My experience here would not have been possible without the PMSLA.”
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Education Tauranga makes first Japan visit
The delegation of 20 education providers ranged from primary school to tertiary, and were keen to establish new connections in Japan.
The three-day programme kicked off with a presentation on the Japan market by ENZ’s Misa Kitaoka. This was followed by visits by most delegates to four primary schools, arranged by the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education and the Tokyo Convention & Visitors Bureau.
“The primary school visits provided an excellent opportunity to introduce the Bay of Plenty region including its Maori language and culture as well as the primary school experience available in Tauranga,” says Misa.
On the last day, ENZ and Education Tauranga co-hosted an agent seminar and networking reception for about 40 travel and education agents looking for new partners in the Bay of Plenty region.
Misa said the reception coincided with a visit by the director of the Maibara Board of Education in Shiga Prefecture. Maibara is a city set to act as a ‘host town’ for New Zealand while taking part in the Japanese government’s promotion of exchanges between local municipalities and nations participating in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
“The event provided a good opportunity for Tauranga and Maibara to explore future collaboration combining education and sports,” Misa said.
Misa said that, in Japan, destination marketing plays a key role when agents, students and families are choosing an overseas study destination.
“Visits by regional delegations are a good marketing practice because they combine the promotion of a region and the providers within the region.
“ENZ can provide in-market assistance by hosting an event at the New Zealand Embassy in Tokyo and in other cities to gather a group of Japanese agents and educators, resulting in a wider outreach to industry partners and stakeholders,” said Misa.
She added that the City of Atsugi in Kanagawa Prefecture, another host town for New Zealand, will shortly start a programme to send high school students to Otago Polytechnic.
With the new opportunities lying ahead of Japan's major sporting games in 2020, Anne Young from Education Tauranga reported that "many new agent relationships were established” at the reception.
ENZ had been an excellent conduit for building and increasing market opportunities between Education Tauranga and Japan, Anne said.
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ENZ India’s jam-packed season
ENZRA fairs
ENZ supported three ENZRA fairs organised by agents in Chennai (Place Me Consultants), Mumbai (Global Opportunities) and New Delhi (Edwise). Together, the fairs attracted more than 20 institutions, and more than 1000 students.
Guest Lecture Series
ENZ concluded the second season of its successful guest lecture series (GLS), featuring nine academics from six New Zealand universities. GLS 2017 involved 27 lectures at prestigious Indian institutions across five cities, showcasing New Zealand’s excellence in such areas as smart power and renewable energy, gut microbiota, drone usage in geographic information systems (GIS). The lectures offered New Zealand universities an opportunity to profile New Zealand research excellence, as well as explore collaboration opportunities in research and exchange.
New Zealand Excellence Awards
The New Zealand Excellence Awards (NZEA) 2017 went live on 1 September, offering 35 partial scholarships jointly funded by ENZ and all eight New Zealand universities to high calibre, ambitious Indian students studying STEM-related courses in New Zealand.
New Zealand India Sustainability Challenge
The New Zealand India Sustainability Challenge (NZISC), an innovative competition profiling New Zealand’s expertise in areas of sustainability, completed its first phase last month. The competition went live on World Environment Day, attracting 90 team entries from around India. The shortlisted teams participated in regional auditions in Mumbai, Bangalore and New Delhi which was juried by New Zealand and Indian experts.
In the second phase of the challenge, finalists will work alongside their New Zealand student partners from the University of Waikato, University of Otago and University of Canterbury to compete at the finale scheduled later this year.
ENZ’s new India influencer
Bollywood actor, Kriti Sanon, a qualified engineer turned actress, was announced as ENZ’s India influencer. In her new role, Kriti launched ENZ’s new ‘Be a Global Citizen’ campaign at a media conference in Mumbai last month. The announcement garnered more than 200 media stories in India. Kriti has a massive social media following, with her initial posts for ENZ reaching over nine million followers.
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Kiwi-China joint institute opens in Hangzhou
The institute opened last month after being formally approved by China’s Ministry of Education in late 2016.
Its first intake has 230 students, with the University of Waikato expecting to have 1,000 students enrolled by 2021.
Students will be offered degrees in finance, computer graphic design and design media, taught by academics from both the University of Waikato and the Zhejiang University City College (ZUCC).
The institute will also welcome exchange students from the university’s Hamilton and Tauranga campuses.
The nearly 9,000m2 purpose-built facility is designed with New Zealand design principles, teaching approaches and standards in mind.
University of Waikato, Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alister Jones said the development of the joint institute was the result of the university’s work and investment in China for more than 15 years.
“The University of Waikato is the first New Zealand university to receive this kind of approval.
“Over the years, the relationship between ZUCC and the University of Waikato has evolved from student programmes, staff training and a dual degree, to the establishment of this joint institute.”
The institute has set the foundation for an exciting future for the university’s programmes in China, Professor Jones said.
“It reflects the hard work that staff in Hamilton and Hangzhou have carried out to get us to this important stage.
“The joint institute uses digital learning technologies and classroom and building design that encourages social interaction.
“We also offer our students in China a uniquely New Zealand education experience, which comes from our commitment to Māori language and culture, and the distinct cultural and historical perspective that it brings,” he said.
Several new students were also awarded scholarships to programmes at the joint institute.
ENZ’s Regional Director for North Asia, Adele Bryant said it was wonderful to see high-quality students join the programmes at the institute.
“ENZ has worked with the university since 2014 to support the development of the joint institute, so it’s fantastic to see that this investment has been worthwhile.”
“The programmes on offer respond to the students’ desire for a global degree that embraces both Kiwi and Chinese cultures, and gives them a truly international qualification.”
The University of Waikato is now looking to extend its partnership with ZUCC, and work with businesses in Hangzhou and other regions to develop internship opportunities for students.
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Japan events bring growth and connections
Although this was the third year the fair has run, ENZ’s Senior Market Development Manager – Japan, Misa Kitaoka, noted a prevalence of tertiary students this year, often seeking degree programmes.
"While Japan hasn’t traditionally been a study-to-work market, concerns over employment outlook as well as anxieties over life in retirement with the declining population could be encouraging the Japanese to pursue new options to secure their future,” she said.
The fair attracted a record 550 visitors, including 340 students, and 37 New Zealand providers.
As destination marketing plays a key role in student attraction to New Zealand, ENZ received support from Tourism New Zealand and Air New Zealand for the fair, and also welcomed Tobitate! (Leap for Tomorrow) Study Abroad, led by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT), as the official supporter for the fair. '
“MEXT’s support is an endorsement of ENZ’s 3-year operation in Japan, and a testament to our 10% market growth in 2016,” said Misa.
ENZ’s Sam Heeney, Tomoko Nishikawa from Tobitate Office and Misa Kitaoka.
A representative from the Tobitate Office gave a presentation during the fair, explaining the application procedures and encouraging students to apply for the scholarship to study in New Zealand.
The presentation was followed by a panel of three Tobitate alumni who shared why they chose to study in New Zealand.
In conjunction with the fair, ENZ hosted two education seminars in Osaka and Tokyo, with a record 164 education agents and institutions attending. For those that sought to expand their existing network, SIEBA’s presence was much appreciated as it introduced standardised contracts, as well as services including primary and secondary student placements.
Education seminars have been increasingly popular amongst school teachers looking to send students and student groups to New Zealand secondary schools. This initiative is driven by the Japanese government’s push for internationalisation ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics.
Julie Haskell, Director of International at the University of Auckland English Language Academy (ELA) has attended ENZ events over the last three years.
“Attending these events has helped ELA to identify new business opportunities as well as developing existing partnerships,” she said.
“We look forward to attending future events in Japan.”
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Events season wraps up in the Philippines
Ben Burrowes, ENZ’s Regional Communications & Strategic Relations Manager for South East Asia, said the events were a fantastic way to sign off on a successful year in the Philippines.
“The market has not been without its challenges in 2017 but we’ve made some great progress in shifting perceptions away from a migration focus on New Zealand to promoting our world-class offering for high-value students,” said Ben.
“Much of that has been achieved through building networks with local and international schools. Our latest series of school roadshows, in which we were joined by a number of New Zealand providers, built some strong partnerships particularly as we look to recruit the new K-12 Filipino graduates into our tertiary system.”
ENZ also co-funded three successful agent-led fairs with Golden Summit Immigration Consultancy (Cebu), IDP (Manila) and Fortrust Education Services (Manila) with more than 25 providers attending. The feedback from all providers was very positive and the events were well attended – particularly the Fortrust fair, which attracted more than 2,200 visitors.
ENZ’s Ben Burrowes with Andrea Preston (Queenstown Resort College) and Catherine Ang (Weltec & Whitireia) at Far Eastern University in Manila.
Close to 100 local guidance counsellors and career advisors attended a training session hosted by Unitec, which included a soft-sell presentation on New Zealand’s world-class education offering.
“This growing network of local counsellors and career advisors is proving valuable, as they have a strong influence on prospective students,” said Ben.
“We’ll continue to work with them closely as we focus on recruiting a greater number of Filipino students into our undergraduate programmes.”
ENZ also generated some great media coverage, a highlight being an NZ Inc. media roundtable in Cebu which included David Strachan (the New Zealand Ambassador to the Philippines), Hernando Banal (New Zealand Trade Commissioner), Steven Dixon (Tourism New Zealand’s Regional Director), Catherine Albiston (Immigration Advisors Authority) and ENZ’s own John Laxon, Regional Director – South, South East Asia & the Middle East.
NZ Inc. media roundtable in Cebu
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Letter from the CE: We are keen to engage with new government
We learned today that Chris Hipkins will be the new Minister of Education, with responsibility for tertiary education and skills including international education. In addition, the appointments of Kelvin Davis, Tracey Martin and Jenny Salesa as Associate Ministers of Education were announced.
Our immediate priority at Education New Zealand is to ensure we are well positioned to advise our new Minister, and to ensure a smooth transition of administration.
We are well advanced in this work. We are finalising a Briefing to the Incoming Minister (BIM) and working with other government agencies on other advice to safeguard New Zealand’s reputation as a high quality and desirable place to study.
In particular, we are keen to engage with incoming Ministers on the long-term picture for international education and the broader benefits it delivers to New Zealand, in particular on delivering an education to be proud of and driving sustainable growth especially in the regions.
2017 has already been a year of significant adjustment for the industry, particularly in the India market. There has also been considerable work around provider quality, student wellbeing and shifting the dial in student attraction from volume to higher value, particularly at university level.
We will have a busy few months ahead. New Zealand must work hard to be a place that welcomes high quality international students and offers them a world-class education and a great experience.
Grant McPherson
Chief Executive, Education New Zealand
