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  • Record referrals to institutions in January

    The size of the Study in New Zealand website audience has grown by 83 percent, from 1.8 million in 2013/14 to 3.3 million in 2014/15.

    An exciting development is that January 2016 saw the highest-ever number of referrals – 14,512 – from studyinnewzealand.govt.nz to the websites of New Zealand education institutions.

    This means 14,512 visitors to the Study in New Zealand website – parents, agents and prospective students – chose to take the step of sending an enquiry directly to a New Zealand institution to find out more about their study options.

    This increased traffic is the culmination of several initiatives ENZ’s Marketing and Channel Development team has undertaken to keep delivering meaningful content to the website’s audiences, and encourage them choose New Zealand as a study destination.

    Such initiatives include:

    We’re grateful to the many providers who have supplied ideas and suggestions for the audience-driven content that is proving so successful.

    As always, we’re more than happy to receive your ideas for:

    • student-generated content for the blog

    • case studies that enable students and parents to directly hear what it’s like to live and learn in New Zealand.

    Please send your suggestions to: blog@studyinnewzealand.com

  • 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

  • NZ education features in Malaysia newspaper

    “New Zealand offers one of the top-ranked education systems in the world,” said Jane Goh, Education New Zealand (ENZ) Marketing and Strategic Relations Manager in Kuala Lumpur.

    “Unfortunately, the strengths of the New Zealand education system go relatively unrecognised or have low awareness in Malaysia, especially compared with its growing popularity in China and India.”

    Jane said this represents a significant opportunity in Malaysia for institutions prepared to invest time and effort into student recruitment and partnership development. She called Malaysia “a promising but largely untapped” market.

    “Malaysia is not only a vibrant market for recruiting international students but it is a popular international studying destination for Asian students and students from Islamic countries.”

    Jane said there needed to be a consistent, industry-wide strategic approach taken to the Malaysia market to highlight New Zealand education quality.

    “We decided to invest in a promotional project that included a series of key messages about New Zealand education, current students and alumni stories, as well as an overall picture of studying and living experience in New Zealand.”

    ENZ played a major role in this project and worked closely with The Star, the largest local English newspaper in circulation.

    “We wrote the content and edited several interviews into stories. The key intent was to position New Zealand as a world-class education destination.

    “We wanted the market to know about our internationally renowned universities, our learning experience and to hear from Malaysian students who have studied in New Zealand.”

    Jane said she was pleased to get support from the University of Auckland, Canterbury University, Lincoln University, University of Otago and Southern Institute of Technology. These universities contributed their angle of story and paid for advertising.

    The feature was published in late July, just before the series of NZ Education Fair and roadshows in Malaysia.

    “We then continued this effort with a media roundtable on the 2 August, to discuss the importance of holistic education in today’s employment market.”

    You can read the whole feature here. 

  • Otago Chemistry lecturer attracts a crowd at Kuching fair

    Jane Goh, ENZ’s Marketing and Strategic Relations Manager, Malaysia, said that around 150 students, parents and teachers in Kuching met with representatives from higher learning institutions, high schools and polytechnics from New Zealand at the fair.

    These included Riccarton High School, UC International College (UCIC), University of Canterbury, Lincoln University, The Ara Institute of Canterbury, University of Otago, The University of Auckland, University of Waikato, New Zealand Tertiary College (NZTC) and Academic Colleges Group (ACG).

    During the fair, Dr David Warren from the University of Otago gave a lecture on the relevance of chemistry today to teach students how best to study and excel in the subject.

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    Dr David Warren delivers a lecture on ‘Chemistry and its relevance in today’s life’ during the New Zealand Education Fair 2016 held at Kuching Hilton Hotel.

    After the lecture, all participants were given a chemistry quiz contest. Rebecca Chen from Lodge International School won the main prize.

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    Rebecca Chen from Lodge International School – the top winner of Chemistry Lecture and Quiz.

  • Whānau 4 Life: New Zealand to Vermont

    The pedestrians in Burlington, Vermont USA had no idea they would stumble upon haka and poi performances as they strolled up Church Street on a recent Saturday evening.

    The North American Whānau Council held its second annual event which included a BBQ, a hike up Mt. Philo and a dinner with waiata (songs) before taking its performance to the streets of Burlington. There was also an emotional ceremony, where the co-presidency was passed to two successors.

    The North American Whānau Council is an organisation that sustains the relationship between North Americans who have been positively affected by Māori culture during their study abroad experience at Auckland University of Technology. The relationships are re-established each year through the North American Whānau Council Weekend, which continues the cultural exchange between alumni and their Māori whānau, or family.

    whanau 6

    Teaching poi to the next generation of AUT Whānau at Mt. Philo

    The initial concept of the Whānau Council was started by AUT alumni in Denmark, and soon expanded to other countries in the region to create the European Whānau Council. Members are AUT alumni who took classes offered by the Faculty of Māori and Indigenous Development, and participated in the Noho Marae, a three-day event held at Ngā Wai o Horotiu Marae where AUT introduces international students to Māori culture, customs and the concept of ‘whānau’ or family.

    Last year, two students from the University of Vermont (UVM) started the North American Whānau Council. AUT partners with two institutions in the Burlington area, which is one of the reasons why AUT whānau is so strong in Vermont.

    The University of Vermont and AUT also have a partnership between their education departments. UVM students enrolled at AUT participate in a teaching internship at a primary school in Auckland, gaining a new perspective from the international setting. There have been more than 40 students in the programme over the last six years, with this year containing the largest cohort so far.

    Dr Ellen Baker, head of UVM’s education department, says the international exchange has many benefits.

    “Students can continue their professional trajectory, which is enriched by their experience in New Zealand. AUT has welcomed them through the orientation and the Noho Marae experience – students immediately feel a part of the community.”

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    Jason King, Senior Lecturer of the Faculty of Maori & Indigenous Development, AUT with the North American Whānau Council on top of Mt. Philo

    Dr. George Burrill, Trustee to Champlain College and the Honorary Consul from New Zealand to Vermont, encouraged Champlain College to offer scholarships for a reciprocal exchange between Champlain and AUT students. At a recent awards luncheon, Connor, a scholarship student from Champlain College, told how despite his busy academic schedule at AUT he also coached a boys’ basketball team, and was also able to find time to explore New Zealand where he “geeked out for a few days and was a hobbit in Middle Earth,” exploring all the way down to Queenstown. Connor ended his speech with gratitude for the scholarship opportunity.

    “I thank you once, I thank you twice, I thank you a thousand times for helping me in my journey. This opportunity has truly changed my life and the memories I made will not be forgotten.” 

    Thank you to the North American Whānau Council and the AUT staff for allowing me to join the Whānau in Burlington for the weekend. 

    Key takeaways

    • Alumni are very eager to share their stories and participate in alumni events.

         “I never get sick of talking about New Zealand.” – Monica

    • Before students leave New Zealand, ask them how they will stay connected. The education graduates at UVM are developing a unit on Māori history and culture to teach in their classrooms.

         “Most incredible semester I’ve ever had.” – Megan

    • Connect your alumni with your contact at their international office so they can talk to prospective students during orientation, info sessions or a study abroad fairs.

    Students are the driving force of alumni events abroad. Even when US students only come to New Zealand for one semester, their connection to Māori culture and the people of New Zealand lasts a lifetime thanks to the welcoming and positive learning culture.

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

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    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 10th 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.

  • International students awarded for ICT excellence

    Ruslan Levenets, who originally studied law in Russia, came to study in New Zealand in preparation of a career change. 

    “I had some practical skills and interest in IT, but my main motivation for study was to have a strong theoretical background,” said Levenets.

    Ruslan was awarded most outstanding student for the Graduate Diploma in Information Assurance and Security. The award was sponsored by ISACA, an international professional association for IT governance.

    Mike Binkhorst, president of the Wellington chapter of ISACA, believes supporting top students is an important part of building the future of their industry. 

    “We're keen to encourage people into the profession to make a difference in the field. ISACA promotes frameworks and standards in IT to improve governance and security. Education and supporting the next generation is a big part of that,” said Binkhorst.

    Weltec IT Award recipients 2EDIT2

    Alexander Sokolov with Alisdair McKenzie

    Also achieving excellence in IT was Alexander Sokolov who was awarded most outstanding student for the Graduate Diploma in Information Technology. He received his award from Alisdair McKenzie, a member of WelTec’s IT Industry Partnership Committee. 

    “WelTec’s Industry Partnership Committee offers guest lectures, takes interns and reviews WelTec's IT programmes – all so that they deliver what the industry is needing,” said McKenzie. 

    “We work to ensure that the tertiary education sector is harmonised with business and industry requirements.”

    Ian Hunter from WelTec’s School of Business & IT said the involvement of industry associations makes a significant difference to the way WelTec students are taught. 

    “Our students are working on real scenarios and real problems as part of their academic programme,” said Hunter.

  • ACG expands its New Zealand vocational group

    ACG Group Chief Executive, John Williamson, said that acquisitions are part of ACG’s plan to broaden its portfolio of high-quality educational services.

    “With ongoing demand for recognised, quality educational qualifications, we are well positioned to grow, either through developing new offerings ourselves or acquiring providers whose philosophies and standards match ours,” said Williamson.

    ACG’s vocational diplomas, degrees and courses are offered in a range of creative industries such as IT, tourism and hospitality, trades and services, health, and early childhood. The acquisitions will now see ACG delivering education to over 12,000 students through its 35 campuses across three countries.

    ACG’s other institutions include Yoobee School of Design, New Zealand Management Academies, New Zealand School of Tourism and New Zealand Career College.

    Animation College is New Zealand's leading character animation college, delivering both traditional and 3D animation courses. AMES is one of New Zealand’s top IT education providers, while South Seas Film & Television School is a leading film, television, screen acting, animation and photography training institution.

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