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Signing up to a bright future for the Deaf community
A serious encounter with Ménière’s disease partway through his PhD studies was a life-changing event in more ways than one for Arash Tayebi.
The inner ear disorder resulted in him losing the hearing in one ear and facing up to the possibility he could become deaf in the future. Studying at Auckland University, and feeling far from his home in Iran, he says the experience hit him hard.
But Arash turned one of the biggest challenges in his life into an opportunity. He became the driving force behind Kara Technologies, an award-winning start-up using digital sign language avatars to make communications of all kinds accessible to those with hearing issues.
His own situation made him question the noticeable lack of deaf people studying at universities, becoming entrepreneurs, and holding leadership positions in the workplace. “I asked myself if I become completely deaf will I not be able to succeed in study and work?”
Engaging with the Deaf community he learned of the real shortage of teachers of sign language, and the complexities in resolving that. Bringing in teachers from overseas is not the answer because they do not know New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL). Closed captioning, which can automatically caption speech is of limited use as young children cannot read, and existing avatars are not expressive enough for Deaf people.
“I said let’s work together to come up with a solution.”
Turning a vision into reality
What started as a small project with Kelston Deaf Education Centre, now part of Ko Taku Reo Deaf Education New Zealand, ultimately morphed into Kara Technologies. But it took vision, determination, and “mind-blowing” support from people he met along the start-up journey.
"The cool thing about New Zealand is that if you have a vision nobody will call you crazy, they’re here to help and happy to take a risk. That’s fantastic."
“There was so much I needed to learn about running a business. I wasn’t rich, so I needed funding. And as the concept was new, I needed the support of the Deaf community.”
Arash’s first break came when Kara Technologies was named Social Enterprise winner in Auckland University’s start-up business competition Velocity $100K Challenge in 2017, giving him access to seed funding and a mentorship programme. Then there was UniServices, which helps to commercialise promising student ventures through investment, advice, and connections. And in the wider community there was GridAKL, an innovation support community with a downtown campus. “If I had a problem, I could always find someone there who was happy to offer advice,” he says.
Estimates of NZSL users vary significantly, from about 4000 for whom it is a first language to more than 20,000 who have some knowledge of it. Arash and his team are committed to their vision of improving meaningful access to information for the Deaf community, and they are already making an impact.
Kara Technologies has produced a diverse suite of avatars, signed children’s books and a range of videos. It has been recognised many times for its innovative work, most recently being named a 2022 finalist in the Public Good category at the NZ Hi-Tech Awards.
Looking to the future
The team at Kara sees a future where TV shows, bank machines, travel websites, online registration forms, live theatre, social media, gaming, and virtual reality technologies are all equipped with sign language avatars. “We want the daily life of a Deaf person to be as easy as a hearing person,” Arash says.
The company is currently trialling emergency messaging by using a set of pre-recorded motion-captured animations, making it possible to relay time-critical information quickly.
Kara is already attracting interest in the US and Canada, where Deaf advocates are excited by the technology. “They are impressed that a small country can make such a contribution. It makes me proud because I call New Zealand home.”
Arash says it’s hard to believe the decision he made to come to New Zealand to study in 2013 has led to where he is now. “I thought I would probably complete my PhD and end up in an academic teaching role. But I have a company, a team, a vision, and fantastic friends. It’s all happened because of the great support I’ve received here.”
He only wishes it was easier for innovators like him to stay on when they finished their studies. He would love New Zealand to introduce a Talent visa like Australia and Canada have. “If you have a cool project they will welcome you, but in New Zealand, you need to secure a job. I already have a job, but it is in my own company,” he says.
“When New Zealand encourages international students to come here it needs to be able to harness their talent, nurture them, and benefit from their talent.”
But Arash says he would always encourage students to come here. “Take yourself out of your comfort zone and you will meet amazing people. New Zealand is a crazy, creative country which could easily be your second home.”
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Japanese teachers experience New Zealand’s regional schools
“Waseda University and its affiliated schools are longstanding and valued partners for us,” says Misa Kitaoka, Director of Education in Japan for Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao (ENZ).
“It’s exciting to see the strong regional focus they have chosen for their students’ study in New Zealand in 2023 and hear about the planned growth of the programme.”
Waseda University schools will be sending up to 60 students on a group programme to schools in Manawatū and Hawke’s Bay for two weeks in March 2023. The two regions were selected to receive students after taking part in an Expression of Interest process. Close to 80 students have already applied to take part, and Waseda plans to increase the number of participants to 100 from 2024, and to increase the length of their visit in future years.
ENZ hosted the familiarisation tour (famil) to Manawatū and Hawke’s Bay from 21- 25 November 2022. Four Tokyo schools took part alongside Waseda University: Waseda University Senior High School, Waseda University Honjo Senior High School, Waseda Jitsugyo High School and Waseda Saga Junior and Senior High School. The famil was co-funded by ENZ and Air New Zealand, and Palmerston North City Council and Learning Hawkes Bay played a major role in helping to organise visits to 14 different education providers.
“Through the five-day famil, our regional and institutional partners demonstrated their strengths and uniqueness,” says ENZ’s Director Marketing and Strategies, Patrick Holden, who travelled with the delegation.
“Delegates commented on how welcome they felt and how impressed they were to see indigenous Māori language and customs being incorporated into the school curriculum. The manaakitanga shown by the different institutions was well received, especially the pōwhiri.”
The delegation is welcomed with a powhiri at Napier Girls High School
Misa Kitaoka stressed the importance of destination marketing with support from regional partners.
“While decision-making tends to be institution-led in the tertiary sector, decisions for the school sector are often led by the region or city. This famil was a great opportunity for us to showcase the regions first, followed by the education offerings available in the regions.
“Japanese school students, parents and educators are also interested in cultural experiences in New Zealand beyond education, including the opportunities to interact with local students and host families, and to embrace New Zealand’s cultural values of diversity and inclusion.
“While video-calling offers many benefits and has been vital across the pandemic, bringing famils back into the country means our offshore stakeholders can experience first-hand what New Zealand has to offer. Regional involvement will play a key role in building long-term reciprocal relationships for Aotearoa.”
For more on ENZ’s education partnership with Waseda University and its affiliated schools, please click here.
For more on the value of short-term programmes for international students in New Zealand and the potential benefits to New Zealand and the educator sector, check out this recent Spinoff article: How educational exchange fosters more than just learning | The Spinoff
Hamish Cooper, NZ Ambassador to Japan, and ENZ staff Misa Kitaoka, Patrick Holden and Ben Burrowes called on the President of Waseda University, Dr Aiji Tanaka and Prof. Kate Elwood, Dean of Centre for International Education recently to congratulate Dr Tanaka on his reelection as the 18th President of Waseda University
The delegation was welcomed on to the Central Hawkes Bay College Marae where they were given background about the history of the marae and given a quick fire class in flax weaving
Waseda delegation outside Awatapu College
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Consultation next step for agent programme
Thanks to those in the international education sector who contributed their time and expertise to this review.
Findings recommend change
The findings make it clear that, while there are some positives, there does need to be change. The programme is not performing well for our stakeholders or for ENZ in our drive to grow, support and promote a quality international education industry for New Zealand.
The report recommends a number of potential areas for ENZ to consider regarding agents, including:
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Better supporting providers to develop effective relationships with quality agents
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Making available a publicly searchable database of agents who have completed our online training
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Our work in better recognising the market differences between countries and sectors
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Supporting agents by continuing to make available New Zealand promotional materials
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Strengthening the rigour, scope and quality of online training, including more information on relevant New Zealand laws and regulations
Consultation is the next step
ENZ’s next step is to consult broadly, including with institutions, agents and government agencies about the future of ENZ’s work around agents. We understand that changes we have made to agent programmes in the past have been disruptive for agents and providers. As such, our thorough consultation will ensure any future solutions are effective, workable and sustainable, and supported. Our engagement will start shortly and, depending on what we hear, decisions are most likely in the second half of this year.
The ENZRA programme remains on hold
As we have shared already, while the consultation is underway we will not be progressing any current ENZRA agent applications or accepting any new ENZRA agent applications. During the consultation phase, there will be no change for agents with current ENZRA status.
We appreciate this may be frustrating for some but believe it is preferable to pause while we ensure any potential changes are carefully considered and well-supported.
Please note agents are able to assist students to enrol with New Zealand education providers regardless of whether they have ENZRA status or have completed the Trained Agent online programme.
Communication
We’ll stay in touch and keep you updated as the consultation unfolds. If you have any questions in the meantime, please get in touch with your contact at Education New Zealand.
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Immigration update: new eMedical system
INZ says eMedical is an exciting initiative that will deliver important benefits, including:
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Saving time and costs for INZ and its customers: eMedical provides a secure online channel for a visa applicant’s health information; in most cases this information will not need manual assessment by immigration officers.
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Improved customer experience through eliminating paper medical certificates: this will help INZ reduce visa application processing times.
Applicants and their representatives will continue to have access to their medical information through eMedical reporting mechanisms. As happens now with paper medical certificates, an applicant will be able to provide their health information, as captured in eMedical, to their representative if they have one.
The new eMedical system will also support a fully online visa application process. eMedical will be phased in progressively from late 2014, and during 2015 it will be integrated with Immigration ONLINE, INZ’s new technology platform for visa applications and processing.
More information can be found on the Immigration New Zealand website.
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Building online brand ambassadors
In June this year, to make sure we were getting the best out of our social media we merged 11 local Facebook pages into one global Facebook page – www.facebook.com/studyinnewzealand
This move was important to both grow our online community of brand ambassadors and deliver a consistent global message to prospective students.
At the time of the merge, our Facebook community had 120,679 ‘likes’. The global page has well and truly surpassed all our initial goals, rocketing to 268,300 fans in just five months. On average we reach 3 million fans a week, including 80,000 engaged fans each week.
Breaking it down, our Facebook audience is 45 percent female, 55 percent male and is aged between 18 and 24. Our largest audience is in India followed by Thailand, Brazil, Malaysia and Colombia.
Compared to competitor countries, Study in New Zealand is performing very strongly with more ‘likes’ than Australia, Canada and the UK – we just have the USA to catch.
In recent weeks our global community manager has noticed a significant shift in the conversation among prospective students on Facebook. When we first launched the global page, most of the questions were very high level – ‘how do I study in New Zealand?’ and ‘what is New Zealand like?’ The questions we’re getting now are much more specific and qualified;
“I am from Bangladesh. I am interested to pursue a diploma at SIT, will Invercargill be an affordable place to live?”
“What is the different b/w diploma and masters? Which is more job oriented?”
“I want to know how’s New Zealand for aeronautical engineering in bachelor program & what is the cost for it?”
Another notable change is that our community is starting to self-moderate – answering each other’s questions with great advice or helpful links. We have a number of New Zealand institutions and agents who are joining in to provide great support through this channel to prospective students with questions.
In November a social campaign will be launched to further grow and stimulate this online audience with further activity planned for 2015. With an absence of Facebook in China, we are currently developing an equivalent social media platform on the popular site Weibo .
Join the conversation at www.facebook.com/studyinnewzealand.
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Industry survey results 2015
This year’s survey focused on the services and support delivered by ENZ. We asked you which ENZ services you have used, how important you find them to support your business objectives, and what you think of our performance in delivering them.
The 304 survey responses we received have provided a wealth of data which we are using to refine and improve our industry service and support offerings.
What you told us
Overall, you indicated you were largely satisfied with ENZ services. Eighty-one percent of respondents were satisfied the quality of ENZ’s services and support, and 70 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that ENZ services had added value to their organisation.
Overall country reports and market intelligence were considered the most important ENZ service, followed by the International Education Snapshot Reports.
The Education Publishers Export Growth Strategy was considered the best performing service, while Virtual Fairs was considered the weakest.
Of all ENZ’s services and support for industry, E-News was consistently rated highly.
What we’re focused on We’re using the survey information to drive improvements across our industry service and support offerings. In addition to a range of planned changes to improve individual services, we plan to work on the following:
- A move to differentiated services: For the first time ENZ has been able to understand the industry survey results by sector, job function, and scale of international education provision. Not surprisingly there is a clear message from the survey that a ‘one size fits all’ approach to providing industry services needs to change in order to improve the quality, value add and relevance of ENZ services. Accordingly a key focus for us in the coming year will be to better differentiate our service and support offerings to meet the diverse needs of a range of sectors and providers
- Support for small and regionally-based institutions: We asked survey respondents to suggest what services and support ENZ should start offering to encourage their business growth. Nearly one in five responses related to enhanced support for smaller providers and for those located outside of the main centres. A second priority for us out to June 2016 is to develop a suite of online tools that can meet this need. We have started development of a prototype online toolkit with the input and guidance of a number of providers.
- Enhanced communications: We also asked survey respondents to identify what ENZ could do to make our services and support more relevant. Thirty-eight percent of responses identified better communications and engagement. Stay tuned for the next issue of E-News which will feature a new and improved approach to our key communications channel. And don’t forget to follow us on LinkedIn.
- Market intelligence: Just behind enhanced communications, nearly one fifth of survey respondents identified better and timelier market intelligence as a key support need. We know you value country reports and market intelligence and are working on initiatives to provide more information, available online and in ways that suit industry needs.
- Agent programme: The ENZ Recognised Agent Programme was one of the lowest rated ENZ services in respect of our performance. As indicated in previous issues of E-News, we have commissioned an external review of the ENZRA Programme. Results from that review are expected shortly and will be used as the basis for considering how to address the perceived issues with the programme.
- Seminars and professional development events: We’re working to reshape how we deliver our seminars and professional development events to better meet the diverse needs of different sectors and to add more value through a more differentiated approach. This may involve better utilising the time of participants by offering several related topics on the same day.
The next Industry Survey will be held in June 2016. If you have any questions regarding the Industry Survey, please contact Sam Mackay.
Summary of results by sector
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Event season in Viet Nam
Two alumni networking events had more than 200 registrations, as well as the participation of Immigration New Zealand (INZ) and New Zealand Aid, who answered queries from students and parents about studying in New Zealand.
Several seminars were held alongside the fairs to discuss student visas, the New Zealand curriculum and NCEA, and the NZ ASEAN Scholar Awards. The seminars drew significant interest with the rooms full for most of the day.
Ben Burrowes, ENZ’s Regional Communications & Strategic Relations Manager for South East Asia, said it was fantastic to see so much interest in the seminars.
“It was clear that the students and parents had already conducted their own research and had come prepared with specific questions on programmes of study and life as a student in New Zealand.”
The Hanoi agent seminar, held on 17 March, included student visa updates from INZ, followed by education agent training and “speed meetings” between local agents and New Zealand education providers.
The events were accompanied by a comprehensive public relations programme that resulted in good coverage in Vietnamese media. Some 15 local media members attended a media briefing in Ho Chi Minh City, seizing the opportunity to interview two Vietnamese alumni and Ben.
The ENZ team also conducted an online chat with vnexpress.net, a top online news website in Viet Nam with over one million views per month. During the two-hour live chat session, questions were put to panel members Ben, Chris Klaassen (Chair of SIEBA), Giang Nguyen (University of Waikato’s SEA Regional Manager), and Lucy Nguyen (SIT’s International Marketing Officer for Vietnam). They answered nearly 60 questions ranging from New Zealand’s quality of education, the transferability of qualifications, the high school system and NCEA. After the live chat, the answers remained on the news site and were syndicated by many other online sources.
Ben said the number of questions put to the panel was a positive sign.
“A number of questions asked for comparisons between New Zealand and some of our stronger competitors – a further testament to the growing market awareness of New Zealand,” he said.
Air New Zealand was among the events’ partners, providing two sets of return tickets to New Zealand at the fairs.
Ben Burrowes (second from left), Tam Le (second from right) with Vietnamese alumni
Speed meetings at the Hanoi Agent Seminar
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e-learning requirments
ENZ Online Agent Training is closing
In order to facilitate the re-build of the training programme, the current Agent Training in no longer accepting registrations for new learners.
The current Agent Training will become fully unavailable to those currently registered after Saturday 30 June 2018.
(Please see our e-new article on 23 May for details.)
To continue, click on the below link to advise you understand that the current Agent Training is closing and the time frames advised.
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Changes to online agent training programme
Dan Smidt, ENZ’s Manager – Agents says the upgrade is long overdue and will make the programme more tailored to agents.
“The current online agent training programme has operated largely unaltered since 2013, and there have been considerable changes in technology and learning styles since then that mean the programme is not as effective as it could be,” says Dan.
“The programme will be re-designed from the agent perspective and have a range of tools, resources and training material that will assist agents in promoting New Zealand as an international education destination.
“Industry stakeholders will also have an opportunity to create learning modules when the new programme is launched.”
The new online agent training programme is intended to re-launch in November 2018.
In order to facilitate the build of the new programme, the current programme will become unavailable near the end of June.
We encourage all agents who have started the training to complete it as soon as possible. Click here to log in.
For further assistance, or any questions, please email agenthelp@enz.govt.nz.
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Techweek 2020: a festival of innovation
Techweek is the premier event of the NZ Tech Alliance, attracting 49,000 people across New Zealand last year.
This year’s festival comes at a critical time for the international education sector as institutions look to diversify their international education with the help of technology and the internet.
Anyone can join up to the virtual events taking place from 27 July-2 August.
ENZ is participating in the following events:
Techweek TV
ENZ has secured a slot on TechweekTV on a panel entitled Physically distant, virtually connected; recreating the New Zealand education experience online, streaming online at 2:30pm on 30 July (NZT).
It will feature ENZ director of platforms and campaigns, Euan Howden, and senior market manager Misa Kitaoka; Jason Mangan, chief technology officer and co-founder of University of Auckland’s lean start up – Connected Experiences; and CRO of Education Perfect, Tim Vaughan.
They’ll explore how to recreate the New Zealand education experience in a COVID-19 environment. The panel will be chaired by director of ATEED, MIT and Unitec Ziena Jalil. Ziena sits on the Boards of Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED), Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT), Unitec, and the Cancer Society Auckland Northland.
EdTechNZ Showcase
EdTechNZ will present a showcase of 24 New Zealand companies. In a series of four Zoom webinars, each company take 10 minutes to show how their products and services are changing the world and take questions from the webinar audience.
The variety of NZ companies innovating to improve educational outcomes is impressive, ranging from primary through post-tertiary, with games, infrastructure, AI, and bringing people closer together all playing a role.
ENZ business development manager Annabel Robertson will be chairing the sessions along with other EdtechNZ Board members.
Panel discussion
ENZ director of partnerships and channels Dan Smidt will be chairing a panel discussion on the role of technology in delivering enhanced customer experiences, cross-sector connections, and seamless pathways for international students, education agents and education providers.
The panel will feature representatives from Enroller, Up Education and JJL Education Consulting.
Why now? Connecting the International Education industry to survive and revive at 1pm on 31 July (NZT).
