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• We offer flexibility, care and support

  

  At Education New Zealand, you will receive:

  - Five weeks (25 days) paid annual leave that will begin accruing from your very first day.

  - 10 days sick leave added to your balance from the day you start, and a top up of 10 days to your balance when you cross over your work anniversary (after 12 months). 

  -  Annual flu vaccinations.

  - Flexibility. We understand this is valued by our employees, therefore offer different kinds of flexible working around the location, days, and times you work while balancing the needs of ENZ, your team and you. 

  - Free access to a nearby gym and (free) personal trainer if you’re based in our Wellington office. 

  - Access to a resourceful Wellbeing Hub through our Employee Assistance Program (EAP), giving you access to confidential support and resources across key areas such as physical health, emotional wellbeing, lifestyle, and workplace support, along with webinars and eLearning modules. 

• Celebrating 60-year friendship with Malaysia

  The celebration, which involved ENZ, Tourism New Zealand and New Zealand Trade & Enterprise as well as the High Commission, was held over five days at the Pavilion Shopping Mall in Kuala Lumpur.

  The aim of the event was to bring New Zealand’s rich and varied culture, art, tourism, education, and food and beverage to Malaysia in a creative and engaging way.

  ENZ had a prominent spot at the event, attracting a number of visitors. ENZ delivered four presentations and held three Skype sessions with Malaysian undergraduate students currently studying at University of Canterbury and Victoria University of Wellington. A PhD researcher from the University of Canterbury also spoke online to prospective Malaysian students and parents in attendance.

  Margaret Low, ENZ Education Advisor based in Kuala Lumpur, said it was fantastic to be part of DANZ to celebrate bilateral relations with Malaysia as well as promote New Zealand’s education offering to local students.

  “The event provided us with an amazing platform to share the New Zealand education story to a huge audience,” said Margaret.

  “Our current Malaysian students also provided outstanding testimonials about their experiences in New Zealand and spoke glowingly about their unique study experience.”

  

  Visitors at the event enjoyed a virtual reality experience featuring beautiful New Zealand landscapes and the New Zealand education system as well as samples of top New Zealand food and beverage products.

• Pulling in for a roadmap pit stop

  More than 200 participants from all sectors met across five centres to discuss where we are on the roadmap journey, what’s changed, and where we go next.

  The Strategic Roadmaps were developed in 2014 following extensive discussion and workshops to create a roadmap, or strategic plan, to achieve the 2025 goals for the international education industry.

  “It was good to reconvene and recognise the significant achievements of the past year, as well as look out to future challenges and consider what they could mean for the strategic choices that were identified in 2014,” says Greg Scott, ENZ Business Development Manager.

  “All 2014 strategic choices were put on the table to revisit and reconsider, and we’re working through the wealth of feedback industry gave us.”

  Feedback shows that diversifying markets, balancing growth across New Zealand, as well as strengthening cross-sector collaboration and pathways, continuing market-led product development, and growing capability are common top priorities.

  More detail on the reprioritised strategic choices by sector will be available in early 2016.

  Clive Jones, ENZ General Manager Business Development, says the pit stops showed a bright outlook: “Over 85% of participants indicated that they are more optimistic about their international education business than a year earlier, which is a good way to begin a new year.”

• Rugby and English language-the competitive edge for Brazilian athletes

  Canterbury welcomed three male Brazilian rugby players in March this year for a five month period as part of a pilot Game On English programme. This is a partnership between English New Zealand and Education New Zealand (ENZ), provided by Christchurch College of English Limited (CCEL) and the Canterbury Rugby Union, with the support of the Brazilian Rugby Union and Christchurch Educated.” The programme combines daily language classes with high performance rugby training.

  The three students have been enrolled at the Crusaders International High Performance Unit’s Elite Programme and at CCEL College of English. They all have represented their country as part of the U19 Brazilian National Team. The players have immersed themselves in Kiwi culture including staying with local host families arranged by CCEL, and they have travelled around the South Island during their free time. The boys have had the opportunity to be coached by current All Blacks coaching staff including Mike Cron. They have also trained with some of the Canterbury Crusader Academy players!

  “The way people welcomed me here when I first arrived was overwhelming. Everybody here is so friendly, so welcoming, always caring about my wellbeing – my host family, my teachers at CCEL, and in the Crusaders. Everyone is really amazing. This made me feel part of the place. I never felt disconnected or isolated, which made me adapt and fit in really easily.

  “Coming to the rugby nation sounded just perfect to me: studying and improving my English in a full immersion programme, which you can only get in an English speaking country. The opportunity to live in a developed country where it is safe, clean and people are so friendly and polite, stay in the Canterbury region home to some of the top rugby players in New Zealand and in the world is amazing. To get to travel through the South Island of New Zealand, with its beautiful landscape, clear skies, the Southern Alps was wonderful. I can’t think of a better place for this”

  Bruno Araujo 19, who played for Brazil’s national U19 team and currently plays at Jacarei Rugby, Sao Paulo State, Brazil.

  In 2008 the Canterbury Rugby Football Union (CRFU) established an International High Performance Unit (IHPU). The CRFU has a long and proud history since it was established as the first Union in New Zealand in 1879. In 2012 Canterbury won their fifth consecutive provincial titles – no team has ever won five titles in a row since the launch of the competition in1976. The IHPU’s purpose is to offer select players, coaches, and support staff an opportunity to visit the inner workings of the   organisation in one of the world’s most beautiful and rugby fanatical countries. It includes five alumni players who participated in the 2015 Rugby World Cup.  The Crusaders coaching staff have nurtured and developed many past and current All Blacks including the previous captain Richie McCaw, Kieran Read and Dan Carter.

  You never know you might see these Brazilian students representing their country at the next Olympics.

  Click here to find out more. 

• Strengthening the international student experience

  The true value of education starts with a great experience for the international students who choose New Zealand. These experiences help us to foster long-lasting connections with the rest of the world. These connections support the social, cultural and economic relationships New Zealand needs for its own prosperity.

  In May we responded to allegations of visa fraud. With 125,000 international students studying in New Zealand last year, our industry is strong. To maintain the momentum we need sustainable growth. We all have a responsibility to make sure we have our settings right to attract the right students to the right programmes.

  Education providers are at the heart of this. We have an industry of high performing institutions delivering outstanding programmes and products for domestic and international students. However, we acknowledge the concerns that have been expressed in the media around a small number of providers.

  At Education New Zealand (ENZ) we are working more closely than ever before with our New Zealand government agencies. We are serious about our role in building a strong, sustainable international education system that works for New Zealand. We are committed to a joined up New Zealand Government approach to tackle issues of non-compliance which negatively impact on the exceptional contribution made by most of the 850 New Zealand providers enrolling international students.

  ENZ welcomes the new code of practice for international students launched on 1 July as a way of strengthening provider engagement and responsibility for the student experience and with the agents New Zealand providers are working with.

  Providers are the link between agents and student flows. We will be supporting providers to do the right thing, which the vast majority do, and continue working with other New Zealand government agencies for them to better understand where some providers may not be meeting these expectations. This will help us to help the industry safeguard our reputation as a world-class education destination and to protect the education brand that we have built together.

  While market diversification is important for us, education markets like India are going to remain a critical part of our industry. Within the next five years India will have the largest tertiary-age population in the world with a middle class expected to grow to around 500 million. The demand for higher education is only going to continue to grow.

  To be a part of this opportunity, we need to remain aspirational but we also acknowledge that we need to be smarter in how we operate.

  We all need to be thinking long-term about what international education means to New Zealand. We are about sustainability, quality, value and integrity. We are about supporting mutual benefit and need to continually look at the value our own domestic students gain from international engagement. Done well, international education contributes hugely to our positioning in the global community.

  Telling the international education story and showcasing the benefits it brings to New Zealand and New Zealanders is a top priority for ENZ. We encourage you to work with each other, your communities, and with us, to continue to highlight the value and vibrancy that international education brings to New Zealand.

  John Goulter, Acting Chief Executive Education New Zealand

• Thai delegation signs MOUs with two NZ universities

  Education New Zealand’s Manapou ki te Ao (ENZ) Programme Manager, Jaruwan Pongjaruwat, led the Thai delegation from Rajamangala University of Technology (RMUT) and Silpakorn University (SU). The delegation visited several universities and Te Pūkenga business divisions across both the North and South islands in the last week of May.

  Jaruwan said that the main aim of the visit was to facilitate a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing between RMUT and the University of Otago and between SU and the University of Canterbury. It also proved a good opportunity to further develop the relationship that these offshore partners have with Te Pūkenga.

  “It was an absolute pleasure to accompany this group of senior officials from RMUT and SU around New Zealand. The visit gave the RMUT delegation members an opportunity to revisit institutions which they have previously partnered with for student and teacher mobility projects, including Wintec, Weltec and Otago Polytechnic.

  

  RMUT and SU delegates see how Wintec manages engineering material and resources across different disciplines.

  “It also provided an opportunity for our delegation to visit new education providers such as the University of Waikato and the University of Canterbury to learn more about the areas in which these institutions excel. They particularly enjoyed learning more about what each institution has to offer and seeing how New Zealand education providers link research to commercial products and services. On top of that, delegates also had the opportunity to visit Weta Workshops and have dinner at Bellamy's restaurant in The Beehive whilst in Wellington," said Jaruwan.   

  

  Thai delegates visiting the University of Canterbury’s Faculty of Engineering

  It is hoped that this visit will lead to future projects in the areas of teacher development, articulation programmes, student mobility and a joint foundation programme. The joint foundation programme will now be extended to cover students studying science and health science, allowing students a pathway to all eight New Zealand universities.

• From the CE: Building back New Zealand’s international education experience

  One of the highlights for me was experiencing a warm Southern welcome in Christchurch and Dunedin, in late August. It was useful to hear from a cross-section of key education providers and other education-related organisations about what’s top of mind for them. There was an opportunity to hear about their plans for the year ahead and discuss what’s being planned at Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao (ENZ), and how we can best support each other.  

  People expressed cautious optimism about inbound student numbers for 2022, saying they have adequate applications in the pipeline to be comfortable with progress (as much as 50% of pre-pandemic levels for some). They mentioned that the fourth border exception group of international students, Cohort 4, is having a positive impact on student numbers. Many of the recent arrivals had started their studies with New Zealand online in their home countries – a testament to the huge effort made by providers, with support from agents and our international teams, to continue reaching out to students and offering online study options while our borders were closed.  

  The visit ended with a Christchurch City Council and ChristchurchNZ mayoral welcome for around 140 tertiary international students, from across the wider Christchurch region – a memorable evening. 

  Another successful welcome for international students took place in September, hosted by the University of Auckland. Both Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Education Minister Chris Hipkins spoke at the event, in a clear demonstration of the government’s commitment to international students and international education.  

  This week I returned from a short visit to London and Barcelona, as part of ENZ’s plans to revisit all our key partner countries now our borders have reopened. The timing coincided with the annual EAIE Conference and Exhibition in Barcelona, which attracted more than 6,300 participants from over 90 countries. EAIE is the largest business-to-business conference and international education event in Europe. It provided a great opportunity to reconnect with key partners and other contacts, and to continue to let them know we are open to welcome students. You can read more about New Zealand’s pavilion at EAIE and the providers who took part in this month’s E-News. 

  In London, I had a series of meetings with key government and education sector contacts, including Professor Sir Steve Smith, the UK Government International Education Champion. A range of opportunities were discussed during these meetings, and we will follow up on these with the sector in New Zealand. I also met with journalists to promote a New Zealand education, including Times Higher Education and StudyTravel magazine. The final engagement of the London trip before heading off to Barcelona involved presenting an award at the PIEoneer Awards ceremony. The four awards won by New Zealand organisations that evening are covered later in this issue.  

  Finally, I’d like to thank everyone involved in the Asia Pacific Technical & Vocational Education and Training Forum, which took place from 14-15 September 2022. This online event, which is run in partnership between Te Pūkenga, Skills Consulting Group and ENZ, attracted more than 2,000 delegates from 60 countries, and has resulted in significant positive feedback. 

  In the spirit of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori I’d like to end with a whakataukī that highlights the importance of language: 

  Kia kaha, te reo Māori - Let’s make the Māori language strong! 

  Ngā mihi nui,

  Grant McPherson 

• New Zealand-trained astrophysicist receives top honour in Malaysia

  She was awarded the prestigious Commander of the Order of Loyalty to the Crown of Malaysia, by Sultan Abdullah at his annual Honours ceremony. It carries the title of Tan Sri, one of the highest federal titles, and is only held concurrently by 250 living recipients. 

  Dr Othman studied physics at the University of Otago in the 1970s and returned for post-graduate study in the 1980s, becoming the first woman to graduate from the university with a PhD in Astronomy and Astrophysics. She then went on to forge a remarkable career in the male-dominated space industry.  

  Colombo Plan Scholar 

  Dr Othman came to New Zealand on a Colombo Plan scholarship. The Plan, a forerunner to our modern development assistance programmes, aimed to promote economic and social development in Asia through education and training.  

  Having fallen in love with physics as a teenager in the 1960s, Dr Othman didn’t discover astronomy or astrophysics until she arrived in Dunedin to study for her PhD in 1974.   

  “There were very few books available at that time and there was not much interest here in Malaysia, but it was very different in New Zealand,” she says. “Neil Armstrong’s landing on the moon in 1969 was a very significant event, but I didn’t think at that time that I would have space as a career. Not in a million years.” 

  Studying in New Zealand opened a world of opportunity for the young, Muslim scholar. Not only did she make a career in the space industry, but she became a leading authority, being appointed the Director of the United Nations Office of Outer Space Affairs in 1999, and the founding director of Malaysia’s National Space Agency in 2002. 

  She acknowledges it has been challenging at times. “It’s been a hard road because I’ve had to start everything from scratch. There was no set path to get to where I am today.” 

  Working to promote science and technology 

  She says her role at the UN was less about science, and more about diplomacy and politics. “How to balance one country’s requirements against another’s. Bringing people to the table together, even if they don’t agree, to try and agree on how to proceed. The other aspect of the job was to see how we could use space to enhance the development of developing countries, especially in science and technology.” 

  It is mostly her work at home for which she has been recognised by the King. As Malaysia’s first astrophysicist, Dr Othman was instrumental in introducing astronomy and space sciences into school and university curricula, advised the Government on space matters, was the driving force behind the National Planetarium in Kuala Lumpur, initiated the country’s National Microsatellite Programme, and headed Mega Science 3.0, the ambitious project to transform Malaysia into leading global player in science and innovation by 2050. 

  Justice and fairness in New Zealand education  

  But it all started as an international student in New Zealand, a time Dr Othman remembers as being both liberating and rewarding. “I particularly loved the egalitarian environment of the university, and that reflected wider New Zealand society.”  

  “There will always be a role for New Zealand in supporting education internationally through its cultural perspective on science,” she says. “There is no hierarchy in New Zealand science – professors treat their students as equals and encourage them to challenge and ask questions. That approach has stayed with me through my career. 

  “New Zealand education also instils a deep sense of justice and fairness.”  – Malaysia alumna and astrophysicist Dr Mazlan Othman. 

• Charles Finny's address to the India New Zealand Business Council
  

  Charles Finny

  India and New Zealand have been friends and trading partners for a long time, and thanks to our Commonwealth heritage, our democratic tradition, and our shared love of cricket, we have much to celebrate.

  The Indian community here adds richness and vibrancy to New Zealand life, through great food, music, art and sport, diverse business ties, and annual festivals such as Diwali.

  New Zealand’s economic future is very much tied to our key trading partners. India is currently our 10^th largest trade partner, and the Government’s vision is for India to become a core trade, economic and political partner. The importance of the relationship is reflected in the visit in April of the President of the Republic of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee and, of course, our Prime Minister John Key will visit India later this month.

  We have been negotiating a Free Trade Agreement bilaterally for several years and we are both part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

  One of the strongest parts of our relationship is in international education.   Last year international education was probably the largest single item exported from New Zealand to India.

  India is, and will continue to be, an important part of New Zealand’s international education strategy. 

  Every day, tens of thousands of Indian international students, alongside other international students, are helping New Zealand to build our research capability and global linkages, to fill skill shortages and enrich New Zealand culture.

  The India New Zealand Business Council is a valued partner in our international education strategy. A number of education providers and immigration and education consultants are Council members, and all members play an important role in ensuring Indian international students have a positive experience in New Zealand. You do this not only through recruiting and employing them in your businesses, but also in providing leadership in upholding high standards when it comes to their treatment and welfare.

  Many members of our Indian community have come to live in New Zealand after studying here. If we can continue to work together on skill development (and I’ll touch more on this later), then the transfer of knowledge, innovation and best practice will not only benefit the individuals involved but also our respective countries.

  Countries that have innovative and skilled workforces prosper and it is the education system of a country that nurtures those skills.

  The education experience that New Zealand offers is first rate. Our universities are world-class – all eight are rated in the top 3% globally, and we offer quality qualifications and hands-on vocational learning through our institutes of technology and private providers.

  This quality has clearly been recognised by the Indian student audience, as we have experienced significant growth over the last three years – from 13,000 to 29,000 students between 2013 and 2015.

  Such growth has demonstrated New Zealand’s strength as a world-class education destination, but it has also created some challenges as we adjust to manage this demand. I will spend some time outlining how the Government is ensuring a sustainable education sector – particularly for our Indian students and stakeholders.

  Our education system has strong government oversight, a commitment to continuous improvement and we place student success and wellbeing front and centre.

  We do this through a comprehensive framework of support, and many of us have a role to play here. These include the main government agencies, Education New Zealand, Ministry of Education, New Zealand Qualifications Authority, Tertiary Education Commission and Immigration New Zealand.

  Other key players include education providers and the agents they use, employers and businesses, community and ethnic groups and other support services.

  This extends also to our bilateral relationship – we have regular catch ups with the High Commissioner of India to New Zealand, Mr Sanjiv Kohil.

  All of us have a collective responsibility to ensure the experience of our international students is a positive one and results in positive outcomes for them and ultimately for our businesses and New Zealand society and economy.

  We welcome international students who come here with genuine intent and means. But New Zealand, like any sovereign country, will take steps to protect our borders and deal decisively with fraudulent or unlawful behaviour when we see it.

  Immigration New Zealand has invested heavily in intelligence gathering and verification support resources for immigration officers in India. As a result they have become more aware of risk and fraud in the market. 

  The visa decline rates from India are evidence of a significant effort by Immigration NZ to manage students and agents who submit false and misleading information in visa applications.

  Immigration New Zealand is doing a lot of work to educate providers about student selection, and the need to manage their agent networks.

  Immigration New Zealand and the Immigration Advisers Authority also ran a campaign in India earlier this year encouraging people to use a New Zealand licensed immigration adviser if they are seeking assistance to come to New Zealand.

  I think it’s important to acknowledge at this stage too that New Zealand is not alone in facing issues of student visa fraud and dishonest agent behaviour. The United States, Canada, Australia and other countries all face the same challenges.

  New Zealand government agencies are committed to acting in a fair and reasonable manner when dealing with students affected by issues of provider quality, or when students’ personal circumstances are, for a variety of reasons, less than straight-forward. Each student is dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

  The New Zealand Qualifications Authority, for example, is working with a group of former IANZ Level 6 students who were required to undertake reassessment to confirm their preparedness for study at another provider, EDENZ. More than 210 students will need extra support and assistance to get them to a standard where they can continue their studies. This is being provided to students at no additional cost so that they can move on from this period of change and continue their studies.

  And, throughout this process, advice, support and counselling is being made freely available to all of the affected students.

  Some of the issues that international students are experiencing are an important reminder that the majority of our international students are young adults, not only crossing geographical divides, many for the first time, but more often than not, cultural divides, away from the familiarity and care of family and friends.

  The New Zealand government agencies I mentioned earlier are working closely together on these issues, to ensure all international students are treated fairly and are well cared for – that they feel welcome, are safe and well, enjoy a high-quality education and are valued for their contribution to New Zealand.

  This joint-agency work on international student wellbeing has focused in recent months on Auckland where the majority of international students are located. It has involved a wide range of community meetings and student focus groups to ensure student needs and concerns are being heard and addressed.

  We must maintain high standards across our international education industry. Equally, we are determined not to let the actions of a small number of individuals damage the reputation of an entire community, nor devalue the contribution that students from India and elsewhere, and our education providers, make to New Zealand.

  Most providers are doing a very good job for their students. Satisfaction rates among students surveyed by the International Student Barometer in 2014 and 2015 ranged from 88% to 94% as being satisfied or very satisfied with their overall experience at their New Zealand institution.

  Government agencies are working with providers to address any issues with quality, including insisting they work with reliable education agents in India.

  Agents play a key role at the beginning of a student’s international education journey in ensuring that the students are informed and make the right choices, and know what to expect as a student in New Zealand.

  The reality is, the seeds of what will be a positive or negative international student experience are often sown before the student has even left India.

  Education agents are central to the Indian market, with more than 90% of Indian students using agents when applying to study in New Zealand. There are thousands of agents in India, and the Government is promoting the use of high-performing agents through:

  • Education providers having a responsibility for agent performance and advice under the revised Code of Pastoral Care, which I’ll talk more about shortly
  • Education New Zealand and Immigration New Zealand providing more information on agent performance to education providers and students, including through the Immigration New Zealand website
  • Education New Zealand revising the ENZ Recognised Agencies programme, to ensure we better support and promote the use of high-quality agents in markets such as India.

  I’m interested too in your thoughts as to what we can do together – at both a government and business level – to ensure that Indian students are working with genuine agents? Perhaps that’s something we can discuss at the end of this address.

  The onus is also on students to ensure they have the financial means to support themselves in their study, and to take responsibility for understanding the requirements to study in New Zealand, including the immigration requirements. When students apply for a visa, they must sign their application as a true and accurate record and have the documents to support their application.

  The cross-agency wellbeing work I mentioned earlier complements the pastoral care Code of Practice which New Zealand was the first country to introduce and which was recently strengthened with effect from 1 July.

  Only education providers who are approved signatories to the Code are allowed to enrol international students. To maintain this privilege, they are expected to meet high standards of service delivery, in accordance with the Code.

  The strengthened Code now means that providers are directly accountable for the behaviour of their agents. Expectations include carrying out reference checks of agents, having a written contract with agents, actively monitoring agents and terminating contracts where there is evidence of misleading, deceptive or illegal behaviour, or where an agent is breaching the Code. The focus is on creating sustainable growth by prioritising higher value, higher quality students.

  Tough sanctions are now available to deal with providers who fail to manage their agents, including the removal of the right to enrol international students. Enforcing the Code is the responsibility of NZQA who are working closely with Immigration New Zealand to ensure providers proactively comply with the Code.

  At the same time, as I mentioned earlier, international students also have an obligation to come here with genuine intent – that their primary purpose is to study, and they have the means to do so.

  Working in New Zealand while studying is a way to complement the classroom skills they learn and to really engage with New Zealand’s everyday life. It is not intended as a lifeline to cover living costs.

  Not having enough money to support themselves creates vulnerable students who are easy to exploit.  This is the reason why Immigration New Zealand has a minimum level of fund requirement for international students to cover their time here.

  And of course when students do get jobs, New Zealand employers have a legal and moral responsibility to uphold New Zealand employment law, to pay for hours worked and to honour the minimum wage. Everyone in New Zealand has the right to protection through minimum work rights.

  I urge Council members to show leadership in modelling and upholding these rights in the Indian community, in your businesses and through your wider networks.

  We continue to encourage individuals to come forward if they have specific examples of exploitation. This is the only way we can address these issues.

  The support and input of the New Zealand communities of our international students is also vital to good outcomes.

  INZBC has a crucial role to play in helping to bridge the gap that may exist through differing cultural contexts, where, for example, some international students aren’t aware that their rights in New Zealand are protected.

  I’d like to applaud the contribution of INZBC members who acknowledge the opportunities that a New Zealand education can offer Indian students in terms of skills and knowledge transfer.

  To be truly successful we need to attract students who have the best potential for positive outcomes to New Zealand. These are the students coming to New Zealand to study high-value programmes that can put them on the path to further study, or to work in high-demand areas in New Zealand, India or across the world. 

  Our ‘target South’ India strategy focuses on attracting genuine students interested in pursuing high-level qualifications in our education market.

  As part of this strategy we established a presence in Mumbai in early 2015 and have since focused our promotional activities in the south and west of India where students have higher levels of visa approval rates and student mobility.

  This strategy involves promotion across a variety of channels, including digital, social and traditional media, promotional events and scholarship initiatives, academic exchanges, and education fairs.

  Education fairs continue to be a strong recruitment channel for us in India, providing outreach to students and families so they can discuss the benefits of New Zealand as a study destination. These fairs are well supported by industry, with more than 30 New Zealand providers attending each of our fairs this year.

  We will continue to adjust the locations and formats of fairs to anticipate local market conditions, and they remain an important part of ENZ’s India promotional strategy.

  We are trialling new initiatives in-market too. In August, ENZ partnered with New Zealand universities and Indian institutions to host a series of guest lectures by eminent New Zealand academics in cities in South India.

  The lecture series was extremely successful in raising awareness of New Zealand’s technical expertise in the areas of engineering, science and business, and building institutional partnerships between our countries.

  We have also boosted the numbers of scholarships aimed at Indian graduates interested in pursuing post-graduate study here. The New Zealand Excellence Awards, announced mid-year, offer scholarships to 35 Indian scholars at all eight of our universities. There is also the Christchurch Educated Skills Scholarship for India which targets post-graduate students studying courses in skill shortage areas that are directly related to the Canterbury earthquake rebuild.

  In closing, I’d like to repeat how much the social, cultural and economic contribution of Indian students to New Zealand is valued. I want to acknowledge again the Council’s part in that, as well as its important role in demonstrating leadership to the Indian business community when it comes to recruiting, employing and supporting Indian international students.

  While we all play a role in the welfare and outcomes of our international students, we also have a collective responsibility to share and promote the positive contribution that international education makes to our communities.

  As a result of the policy changes that we have already introduced you will notice that the number of Indian students coming to New Zealand will have reduced to levels similar to that we achieved in 2013.  As we solve some of the problems I have discussed today that number may slow further before starting to grow again. 

  Can I end by emphasising that over the longer term we look forward to welcoming as many high quality Indian students who want to come to New Zealand to study higher end qualifications who meet our entry criteria.  We look forward to working in India and here with stakeholders such as the INZBC to ensure that we have a sustainable level of Indian students in New Zealand and that this vital part of the bilateral relationship is not put further at risk by the actions of a few.

  Thank you.

• Letter from the CE: Kiwis see the benefits of international education

  The 2018 Perceptions research announced today tells us that an increasing number of Kiwis value the sector, which is great news. More New Zealanders can see how international students impact on more than just the education provider they are attached to.

  Some of the key findings include that 73% of New Zealanders believe international education benefits New Zealand tourism, 62% believe it benefits our economy and 61% believe it benefits our international networks and trading connections.

  These positive perceptions are growing – more New Zealanders noted these benefits than in previous years.

  This is a fantastic result and reflects the hard work undertaken by education providers, regional bodies, government agencies, students and the many other champions of our sector who tell our story and showcase the many ways international education enhances our country.

  The Perceptions research findings come on top of the $5.1 billion valuation announced last week, which places international education as New Zealand’s fourth largest export industry – one that also supports close to 50,000 jobs.

  Taken together, these reports show an increased understanding among New Zealanders of how international education can help to build New Zealand's global linkages, fill skill shortages, enrich our cultural diversity and grow our regional economies.

  I’m optimistic that this understanding will grow and, by looking to the International Education Strategy to guide us, our sector can continue to deliver for all New Zealanders and provide meaningful experiences for international students.

  For more information on the Perceptions research, click here.

  For more information on the economic valuation, click here.

   

  Grant McPherson

  Chief Executive, Education New Zealand