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An update from ENZ's Events team
Many of you are working closely with our international teams on in-market initiatives and programmes of work. The following update refers to the events as listed on the events calendar on our corporate website and does not include additional in-market activity.
If you’ve confirmed to attend any of the upcoming ENZ calendar events for the second half of this year, the team will be in touch as soon as they can to update you on how the event will proceed.
Events framework
We are developing an events framework that will initially support events planned until the end of 2020 and look at alternative ways we can deliver events and fairs in New Zealand and overseas. This framework is in response to the current situation and the need to adjust how we do events over the next 12-18 months.
We are aware delivering events virtually is a high priority, but we also understand that not every event will translate well to virtual delivery, and each market has its own challenges requiring a bespoke approach. The framework will consider each countries’ restrictions. It will also look at the viability of events taking place virtually or whether a hybrid approach could be used and be more effective.
Virtual events platform
To assist us in making the right decisions in event delivery, we are undertaking an initial scoping exercise of digital platforms that facilitates the delivery of events, fairs, and conferences online.
Our goal is to ensure our education industry has access to ‘best-in-class’ digital events options that align with our student audience needs. In order to align with your recruitment goals we will consult with industry partners to better understand what your requirements are for digital events, and whether an integrated ENZ platform could strengthen our ability to recruit students to New Zealand.
Attendance at virtual fairs
We are all receiving invitations to virtual fairs and we are assessing which events we will attend as it is essential New Zealand remains visible during this period. To help inform these decisions, the events team would welcome information on the events you will be participating in through to the end of 2020. Please email them at events@enz.govt.nz with this information, or if you have any further queries.

Thank you for all the applications we have received.

The Fund has now been allocated and we are no longer able to accept applications.

The Government has established a $1M hardship fund for international students to address urgent, temporary needs, for example temporary inability to access cash or because of reduced part-time employment.

Criteria

We welcome applications from education providers and organisations to apply for grants of up to $20,000 (GST not to be included) to enable you to provide eligible international students with direct financial relief or other support, including food parcels and support towards living costs.

Organisations can apply for grants up to $20,000.

Applications can be made from 21 May until funding has been allocated.

Which organisations are eligible to apply to ENZ for grants?

Education providers who are signatories to the Code of Practice
Community groups
Peak bodies, or
Other organisations who currently work with international students and have the mechanisms and experience to support international students with hardship requests.

Individual students and education agents may not apply to ENZ to access the fund.

What grants are available?

Eligible organisations may apply for grants of up to $20,000 (GST not to be included) per request to the fund.
Grants are one-off; however, the same organisation may make additional requests after using their initial funding (subject to the availability of funding).

What can grants be used for?

The grants may be used to:

scale up existing student hardship initiatives
support eligible students through:
- Direct cash grants
- The purchase of resources on behalf of international students, such as food parcels, where this is appropriate.
The maximum amount that can be applied for is up to $1,000 per international student your organisation is supporting.
Funds may not be used for:
- Salaries or staff administration costs
- Funding for flights home
- Tuition fees
- Granting individual students support of more than $1,000 in cash or kind.

Which students are eligible for support?

Grants can only be used to provide support to eligible students.
An eligible student is:
- A current fee-paying international student, or enrolled as a fee-paying international student as at 23 March
- Currently in New Zealand
- In genuine, temporary hardship^[1]
- Not eligible for other government financial support.
International PhD students paying domestic fees are eligible for the government’s domestic student hardship fund and should be encouraged to seek help from that scheme in the first instance.

Table: Summary of eligible and ineligible students

Eligible students	Ineligible students
A current fee-paying international student, or enrolled as an international student as at 23 March. In genuine, temporary hardship.	International PhD students paying domestic fees. International students who are not currently enrolled or who were not enrolled as an international student as at 23 March. International students who are eligible for other government support.

How do organisations apply?

To apply for grant funding, organisations must complete and submit an online application form to ENZ.
Organisations will need to provide the following information:
- Their strategy and approach to identifying students in need, including outreach efforts and ensuring eligibility criteria are met
- Estimated number of international students and basic demographics (e.g. age range, sector, nationalities, region)
- Total amount requested, what it will be used for, and how it has been calculated
- The organisation’s resources to ensure appropriate distribution
- Agreement to meet reporting requirements (including publication) and to repay any underspend within 12 weeks of having been granted the funds
- Invoice and bank details for payment.
Process – Applications are now closed.
Assessment of applications will be completed within five working days. Approval will be notified by email, as will confirmation of distribution of funds.
Any queries about the International Student Hardship Fund can be sent to response@enz.govt.nz or raised with Sahinde Pala, Director of Student Experience & Global Citizens at Education New Zealand.

Reporting requirements:

Organisations will need to report to ENZ on:
- The number of students assisted, and basic demographics (e.g. age range, sector, nationalities, region of New Zealand)
- The type of assistance provided
- How much was provided.
To demonstrate programme outcomes, and as part of its commitment to ensuring value for money from expenditure, ENZ will publish reports from participating organisations in whole or part.

Closing date

Applications can be made from 21 May, until funding has been allocated.

Further information

Frequently asked questions are available here.

Any queries or concerns about the International Student Hardship Fund can be sent to response@enz.govt.nz or raised with Sahinde Pala, Director of Student Experience & Global Citizens at Education New Zealand.

Thank you for your assistance in helping to support international students currently studying here during these unprecedented times.

[1] Organisations will have the discretion to determine what constitutes significant, temporary hardship in accordance with their existing policies and practices.

Massey University’s virtual exchange programme a first for New Zealand
The first virtual exchange with the University of North Georgia (UNG) began in the first semester of 2020. It focuses on Defence and Security Studies courses at both institutions.
“Students benefit by being able to take unique courses for no additional fees from an overseas partner while continuing their studies at their home institution,” Massey University’s Manager of Student Mobility, Greg Huff, says. “The universities benefit by being able to expand their offering of courses and subject areas, while also building linkages with other international partners.”
Massey University worked with the Ministry of Education to create New Zealand’s first virtual exchange scheme in 2019, before the effects of COVID-19 began to be felt in the international education sector.
Huff says the exchange began as a way to expand and enhance its students’ academic experiences. Massey expects the demand for virtual exchange opportunities to grow as tertiary providers around the globe continue responding to changes brought on by the pandemic.
“As the demand for virtual learning opportunities increases due to COVID-19, this is a great opportunity for an institution with a proven track record in the virtual learning space to show institutions around the world what Massey and other New Zealand providers have to offer.” ENZ’s Director of Engagement in the US, DuBois Jennings.
Other New Zealand institutions can also benefit by using the structure approved by the Ministry of Education to set up their own virtual exchanges.
You’re invited to Uiui: a market update on Latin America
Entitled Uiui (a Te Reo Māori word meaning to investigate or examine), the series comprises two Zoom webinars with ENZ Regional Director Amy Rutherford as moderator.
1. Uiui: LatAm Business
When: 8:30am NZT, 30 June
What: A conversational presentation by a panel including NZTE Regional Director Steve Jones and NZTE’s trade commissioners based in Brazil, Chile and Colombia. The panel will provide an economic overview of the region, including the challenges and opportunities presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, and then take questions.
Register here
2. Uiui: International education’s new landscape
When: 8:30am NZT, 2 July
What: Speakers from the main local education agent organizations, the Brazilian Educational & Language Travel Association (BELTA) and the Colombian National Association of Education Advisors (ANEX), as well as ICEF Latin America will talk on the LatAm education landscape in light of COVID-19, as well as the current trends, strategy for recovery, and feedback from students.
Register here
From the CE: A transitional phase
First of all, a big thank you to everyone. Your insight and problem-solving on so many urgent matters, including student wellbeing and repatriation, has been invaluable.
I’d like to reflect quickly on how we’ve worked together so far. Our activities together represent just a beginning on the long road ahead. Within ENZ, we have:
- Created and administered the International Student Hardship Fund, which has allocated $1m to 105 providers and community organisations, assisting approximately 11,000 students.
- Created the Future Focused Programme and invested $1.2 million of reallocated government funds into the future of the industry to encourage innovation.
- Stood up cross-organisation teams within ENZ to focus on student wellbeing and support the repatriation of school-aged students.
- Communicated and engaged intensively with peak bodies, education providers, agents and in-market partners.
- Invested in NauMai NZ and increased our communications to students within New Zealand
- Continued to maintain visibility of New Zealand as a high quality study destination, and
- We’re continuing to work closely with other agencies, who have optimised policy settings to cushion the sector from the impacts of COVID-19 as far as possible.
Of course, a crucial step of the international education sector will be bringing in students.
International students remain a priority group in the government’s planning for any managed border entry agreements. We’re looking forward to welcoming international students into New Zealand again, but we need to make sure we do so in a way that is safe for everyone.
There are many details to be worked through, including practical quarantine and self-isolation arrangements, monitoring processes, and how the costs can be shared by those arriving.
As a result of this complexity, Minister of Education Chris Hipkins has advised our sector leaders that international students will not be returning to New Zealand in July and August this year. He hopes that we will be able to safely welcome small groups of students by the end of the year and begin building up towards 2021.
We need to have and retain public confidence in the managed border re-entry process, before we welcome cohorts of students to New Zealand.
Finally, our work towards a sector recovery strategy continues and I look forward to sharing more with you this July.
He waka eke noa (we’re all in this together).
Ngā mihi,
Grant McPherson
Chief Executive
Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao
Meet the Team: Matt Penney
Could you please outline your own role and the role of the Corporate Services team?
I head up our Finance and IT teams and sit on the leadership team. I am a member of the Audit & Risk committee and chair the Digital Steering group.
Finance is responsible for paying our invoices, keeping accounting records, business partnering, helping to set budgets and reforecasting those as things change. We do a lot of reporting and work with tax people, auditors and do other forms of compliance. Audit NZ has awarded us their highest rating for the past three years.
IT provides many of the essential tools, technology, and training for us to be able to do our job. ENZ is putting in place one of the most, if not the most, advanced IT-managed cloud computing solution within the public sector.
We operate in many different jurisdictions around the world, so we face many different challenges at a local level. We are also part of the NZ Inc government sector and there is a lot of knowledge and services that we can and do share with each other.
How has COVID-19 impacted your team’s work, and what work do you have ahead of you with the recovery?
In the current environment, we have helped to reconfigure ENZ’s work programme. We have supported the identification of new activities that support the international education sector, connect with the international students in New Zealand, and gather intelligence about the markets for New Zealand providers. I think we have all gone through a reboot the last few months and as is often said, “we should never let a good crisis go to waste” and miss the chance to make positive change.
In terms of my team’s work programme, that’s actually full steam ahead. We have nearly completed our IT-managed cloud computing solution, desk phones have been replaced with soft phone telephony, we are trialling updated Zoom hardware, and putting in new, improved global managed internet connections. We are also go-live shortly with a new finance system to ensure ENZ staff can spend less time on administration and more time on value-add activities.
Can you tell me a bit about your professional background?
I belong to the New Zealand professional bodies for Directors and Chartered Accountants. and have 25 years of business experience in a mixture of private and public sector roles. Six years of that experience was gained in the UK and Ireland. I really enjoyed my time working overseas.
I joined ENZ in 2014; this is my first government agency role.
Accounting is a transferable skill, so I have had an interesting journey across many different sectors. I have toured around power stations, air traffic control towers, coal mines – who says accounting is boring!

Matt (about to receive a hand up) competing in an adventure race in China.

What do you like to do in your spare time?
My interests are built around my family; I am married with 11 and 8-year-old boys. I like my travel – one of the benefits of COVID is that my leave balance is now positive again!
Once upon a time we backpacked our way around Asia and Europe and did a truck tour across southern Africa. I have been to something like 60 countries, but these days we do more family-friendly things like go to Ohope, Rarotonga and the South Island ski fields.
I have done the annual Coast to Coast race across the South Island four times and Ironman NZ once. In the past couple of years I’ve tried adventure racing in China where we’ve won enough prize money to cover the costs of getting there. We raced in Wulong and I could not go all that way without popping in to see Felix in our nearest ENZ office in Guangzhou.
Future Focus Programme seeds innovation
The Future Focus Programme is a new initiative which will provide $200,000 per sector in funding to help peak bodies seed innovation projects.
The school, university, private training establishment (PTE), polytechnic (ITP), English language, and education products and services sectors are all being supported through this programme.
The funding is to be used by peak bodies to develop an innovation plan for their sector, and to initiate innovation projects. Innovation projects are to focus in the areas of product development, online delivery, new business models and the development of innovation capability.
Through this support, ENZ wishes to encourage sectors to adopt new ways of working to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 or similarly unprecedented events.
“The Future Focus Programme is a tangible way in which ENZ can help support sectors to shape their future in the ‘new normal’ post COVID-19,” ENZ General Manager – Partnerships & Marketing, Paul Irwin, says.
“The programme is additional to our normal activities and is designed with a clear focus on innovation – part of Goal 2 of the New Zealand International Education Strategy. With all the uncertainty we are currently facing, this programme is an opportunity to take stock of what COVID-19 means for how international education can operate in the future and develop new products, services, behaviours and models to help us be more resilient to change.”
“We’re pleased to be working alongside peak bodies to help shape their future focus plans and we look forward to seeing the launch of a number of innovative projects.”
ENZ is working alongside peak bodies as they develop their innovation plans and identify prospective innovation projects. These plans and projects will be agreed over the coming weeks.
Delivery timeframes will vary according to the peak body and the scale and nature of the projects they initiate, but projects are expected to be implemented over the coming 12 to 18 months.
Happy birthday, SIEBA!
Today, the Schools International Education Business Association (SIEBA) has over 400 member schools. This membership hosts about 90 percent of all of international students at New Zealand schools.
As recently as 2014, there was no peak body for schools wanting to participate in international education – but not for a lack of demand.
In the same year, Education New Zealand (itself only three years at the time), set out to co-create Strategic Roadmaps with the sector. One of the biggest things to come out of our consultation with the schools sector was that they wanted their own peak body.
ENZ’s Business Development Manager for the schools sector, Mary Camp, described ENZ’s early investment as a “no-brainer”.
Now, SIEBA is completely self-sufficient financially, but ENZ’s relationship with them remains strong.
“Our relationship has been constructive, transparent and extremely successful,” Mary says. “Some examples of are work together are the Korean and Chilean government scholarship schemes and educating agents offshore.”
When COVID-19 turned the world upside down, the importance of SIEBA was underlined.
“SIEBA has been the go-to for the schools sector,” Mary says. “We are working closely with SIEBA, like all of our peak bodies, as part of the COVID-19 recovery and sector rebuild.”
SIEBA Executive Director John van der Zwan says he is immensely proud to have had the opportunity to work with New Zealand’s schools community.
“I am constantly encouraged by the work people do in the school sector, and by the amazing commitment that schools make to support the young students from around the world that come to New Zealand to learn,” he says. “All of us at SIEBA are so fortunate to be a part of a very special group of people in a very special area of education.”
John has been involved with the organisation since its inception. He was part of the working group that prepared a proposal seeking support from the school sector for a peak body in 2014.
To help SIEBA get off the ground, John was appointed as Interim Executive Director in 2015 before moving into the permanent role a year later.
“The biggest achievement for me has been working with some wonderful people to get SIEBA to a position where we are recognised, not only for how we support schools day to day, but for being prepared and ready for the role we are about play in leading our sector through the biggest crisis we will ever face,” he says.
“The SIEBA team has worked hard to know our business, build a strong reputation, develop valuable relationships with our partners and be in a great position to lead the work that lies ahead.”
International Student Hardship Fund now fully allocated
The fund first opened for applications on 21 May. It was met with immediate interest by a wide variety of education institutions and community groups.
A cross-ENZ team named Kāhui Oranga was charged with the fund’s administration. They met twice weekly to go through applications and ensure a balanced allocation of funds between regions, sectors and institutions.
Education providers and community organisations are disseminating grants from the fund to international students in the form of cash grants, food parcels and accommodation support.
ENZ Director of Student Experience and Global Citizens, Sahinde Pala, led Kāhui Oranga. She says the government was glad to be able to offer international students tangible support in such an uncertain time.
“At ENZ we talk a lot about manaakitanga – the offering of hospitality and respect to guests. We really want every student that comes to New Zealand to feel valued,” she says.
“It was obvious once the impacts of COVID-19 began to be felt here that we needed to offer our international students most in need extra support during these difficult times.”
Last week, Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters and Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector, Poto Williams, announced the Assistance for Foreign Nationals impacted by COVID-19 Programme.
This $37.6 million fund will open on 1 July and be administered by the Department of Internal Affairs. International students experiencing serious hardship will be able to apply to this programme to receive support with basic needs such as food and accommodation.
Read the announcement here.
Virtual events around the world
Viet Nam: Career fair at Nguyen Sieu School (NSS)
Representatives from eight New Zealand providers attended a career fair at Hanoi’s Nguyen Sieu School (NSS) last month.
With no cases of community-transmitted COVID-19 for the past six weeks, Viet Nam has started to return to normal life. Schools have reopened just ahead of the end of the academic year.
Usually, the NSS Career Fair only allows in-person representatives from foreign institutions. However, thanks to ENZ’s strong relationship with the school, our institutions were represented by proxy – either an education agent or alumnus. A representative from the institution was also permitted to join via video link.
As a result, New Zealand’s presence was well ahead of our competitors like Canada (with two institutions), the UK (also two), or Australia (three).
ENZ Viet Nam Market Manager Van Banh says this is a great example of how key in-market relationships will be critical as international education looks to conduct usual activity online.
“This year’s NSS Career Fair was an exciting example of how we can incorporate digital technology into our in-person events,” she says.

North America: NAFSA eShowcase
For the first time ever, the world’s biggest B2B international education conference was held entirely online.
More than 9,000 international educators from over 100 countries were expected to attend the conference in St. Louis, Missouri over 25-29 May before COVID-19 forced organisers to take it to the digital world. In the end, over 2,000 attended the eShowcase.
Participants were able to visit ENZ’s virtual booth and engage either through chat or live video conversations at designated times.
New Zealand universities and ITPs had dedicated times to host a ‘Virtual Showcase’, which is a mechanism by which NAFSA exhibitors presented, met or collaborated with attendees via a dedicated Zoom session.
“The process of moving the largest in-person B2B international education conference in the world online has been a big learning curve, not only for ENZ and the individual booths and attendees, but for NAFSA themselves,” ENZ Director of Engagement – North America, DuBois Jennings, says.
“With no live, conference-wide chatroom or method to see a list of conference participants it felt isolating at time on the booth, which is very different from the normal, in-person NAFSA conference. However, it has been a valuable learning experience as the international education industry looks for new ways to connect virtually.”

The official NZ CEE schedule.

China: China Education Expo (CEE)
In late May, representatives from ENZ, all eight of New Zealand’s universities and the NZIST were offered a unique opportunity to engage directly with students from China and their parents.
The annual China Education Expo (CEE) is one of the biggest events in the Chinese international education calendar. But ENZ Market Development Manager, Jane Liu, says this year’s engagement through the virtual platform is greater than they would usually expect.
“Although ENZ has worked with the CEE for years, this is the first time we’ve been collaborated with them online. We can see this being useful to New Zealand institutions even after COVID-19.”
Each university provided a one-hour presentation sharing their programmes and how they can work with interested students once COVID-19 precautions have been lifted. The NZIST representative also gave a detailed introduction to the reforms the ITP sector has recently gone through.
The webinars have garnered a combined total of 1000 views, and have been recorded and hosted on WeChat so that students and parents can watch them at their leisure.