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  • Growth Fund applications open

    The IEGF aims to support innovative projects that go beyond ‘business as usual’ – for instance this funding can help accelerate your market expansion plans, develop offshore partnerships or build a new product or channel to market. 

    There has been some fine-tuning of criteria and the selection process, based on feedback from earlier rounds. ENZ Business Development Manager, Adele Bryant, says the new form is designed to guide applicants easily through the process, and in particular help you explain how a project will meet key selection criteria -- including level of innovation, expected commercial return, scalability, value for money and extent of collaboration both on and offshore. 

    Success so far

    Since the fund was piloted in April 2013, 41 projects and 31 institutions and education exporters have received ‘matched project funding’ of between $10,000 and $50,000.  

    Some good results have been achieved already from projects funded in that first April 2013 round.   Wellington-based company Software Education has launched five new courses in Singapore and signed six new partnerships with US organisations, while Kiwa Digital, of Auckland, has used its funding to close international contracts valued at $386,000.

    Victoria University of Wellington used IEGF funding to develop a niche marketing campaign for its high value, postgraduate law programme in Germany and Southeast Asia. The university says without IEGF funding it would have taken longer for the university to gain the market penetration it wanted in Singapore, Thailand and Germany.  The results are an 18% increase in offers of places over 2013 and new relationships with institutions that will help feed the student pipeline into the future.

    Online Education, a start-up company based in Hamilton has developed Code Avengers to teach computer programming.  The product can be used in classroom settings around the world as well as in the potentially huge US home school market.  While still in the development phase the company has used its IEGF funds to “accelerate the speed of many tasks from promotion to IP protection to product development”.  While revenue is small it is growing quickly with an 800% increase over the last year, of which some 80% comes from export sales. The company is now having the product translated into Spanish and Dutch and is in negotiation with overseas distributors as it moves quickly to capitalise on its improved international profile. 

  • International education top priority – Tertiary Education Strategy 2014-19

    Speaking at the Tertiary Education Strategy launch at the Higher Education Summit in Auckland, Mr Joyce said the new Strategy is about achieving faster progress with some of the key challenges facing New Zealand learners in the 21st century.

    “Our tertiary education sector must continue to adapt and change to provide the skills and qualifications New Zealanders will need to contribute in the labour market in innovative and competitive ways,” Mr Joyce said.

    The Tertiary Education Strategy 2014-19 sets out six strategic priorities designed to encourage a more adaptable outward-facing New Zealand tertiary education system that makes the most of strong links with businesses, communities and the world economy. They are:

    • Priority 1: Delivering skills for industry

    • Priority 2: Getting at-risk young people into a career

    • Priority 3: Boosting achievement of Māori and Pasifika

    • Priority 4: Improving adult literacy and numeracy

    • Priority 5: Strengthening research-based institutions

    • Priority 6: Growing international linkages.

    For the full text of Mr Joyce’s speech see the Beehive website. 

    The Strategy is available on the Ministry of Education website. 

  • Great ideas from schools

    The ENZ Schools’ Reference Group was set up last year as a way to collect school feedback and ideas about how the sector can best develop. 

    ENZ Business Development Manager Mary Camp says the latest meeting on 25 February generated a swag of suggestions for the professional development workshops held in the lead-up to the New Zealand International Education Conference (NZIEC). More are welcome…

    “This reference group is really benefitting our work to support the industry,” Mary says. 

    “Given there are so many schools, spread from one end of the country to the other, and with so much variety of character and programme, it can be hard for us to be sure we’re hearing what we need to hear from schools.”

    “It’s great now to have an official channel open for that conversation, as well as the other connections we have through regional clusters and the like. We’ve been able to design services and products to suit schools’ current needs, and schools’ feedback on other parts of Education New Zealand’s work has been hugely valuable.”

    Mary says the pre-conference workshops in 2013 (on business planning, social media and working with agents) were well attended and rated highly by participants. The aim is to keep relevance high for this year’s NZIEC –  held in Wellington on 21-22 August 2014. 

    Additions to this ‘working topic list’ from the Schools’ Reference Group meeting are welcome:

    • Collaboration – looking at different collaborative business models, eg regional, niche

    • Homestay systems/ processes, building your homestay community, sharing ideas

    • Alumni – using them effectively

    • Agent perspectives – what are they looking for? (panel)

    • Market analysis – including hard stats, competitor analysis, and recommended key markets for schools.

    To make a suggestion for workshop topics please contact one of ENZ’s Business Development Managers for the school sector, Richard.Kyle@enz.govt.nz or Mary.Camp@enz.govt.nz. 

  • Growth in the outdoors

    The Outdoor Education New Zealand (ODENZ) cluster has been working since 2002 to develop this niche, and enrolments are rising from northern Europe. 

    ODENZ chief executive Ian Reedy says the participating schools from across the country are united by two things: passion for the outdoors, and awareness that joint marketing efforts are the way to go. 

    ODENZ is growing the international outdoor education business through a concerted multi-year campaign, with support funding from Education New Zealand. The aim is to end up a self-sustaining organisation with a regular ‘in-market’ presence in northern Europe.

    In 2012 there were 184 international students recruited to outdoor ed programmes at participating schools. Figures for Term 1 2014 show an encouraging trend, with 20 percent growth against the same time in 2013. This year they come from Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Austria and Luxembourg.

    The aims for 2014 and 2015 are to increase the number of schools in the cluster, and to increase the numbers of students on the ground – or the water, or high on the rockface…

    ODENZ is one of several clusters supported by Education New Zealand. Others include independent schools, faith schools and regional groupings. Email us for more information about our support for clusters.

    For information on the outdoor cluster, email info@outdoorednz.co.nz or see www.outdooreducation.co.nz.

  • Digital win in Dubai for NZ educational product

    On 6 March, Kiwa Digital was named the winner in the Best Free ICT/App Product category at the Gulf Educational Supplier & Solutions (GESS) Exhibition in Dubai. The award was for Kiwa’s highly successful multi-lingual digital version of Milly, Molly and the Bike Ride. 

    GESS is the leading educational trade show in the Middle East, attracting 300 exhibitors from 60 countries, and featuring the latest in educational information and communications (ICT) technologies. 

    Kiwa Digital’s CEO, Rhonda Kite, is thrilled with an award from the “most exciting educational market in the world”.

    “We are very proud to have been recognised by some of the most respected names in the education sector as providing a solution that serves education needs throughout the Gulf.”

    Kiwa Digital’s work on expanding its global markets has been supported by an International Education Growth Fund grant and Education New Zealand market access support for education publishers. This is to take advantage of the remarkable innovation that technology is bringing to the education sector.

  • University launches global brand

    The focused work to create Massey University Worldwide was supported by $150,000 funding through Education New Zealand, as part of the government’s strategic initiatives to increase the volume of offshore education delivery by New Zealand providers.

    The new brand was launched in Wellington on 25 February, at a function including the representatives of 11 embassies.

    Massey University Worldwide aims to connect and expand the institution’s existing distance learning and transnational activities, which have included partnering with the Singapore government on food technology training, delivering postgraduate programmes for the Royal Brunei Armed Forces, and a blended programme for South Asian veterinarians and public health professionals.

    Vice-Chancellor Steve Maharey says Massey University Worldwide is a natural extension for Massey.  As one of the first universities in the world to launch distance and online learning, Massey has developed strong relationships around the world over many years.

    He says the work to create a strong brand for transnational education came in response to “rapidly growing demand for high quality programmes delivered by internationally focused universities in the student’s own country”.

    “Massey University Worldwide expands our teaching and research activity internationally helping to secure tertiary education as a major export earner for New Zealand.”

    Programmes the university aims to grow under the brand’s umbrella include high quality niche offerings in Massey’s key areas of expertise such as agriculture, business studies, emergency management and design. The university will further develop online programmes to align with international student’s current requirements, making use of emerging technology and delivery platforms such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), as well as working with New Zealand businesses based offshore to build capability, and to bid for more internationally funded research.

    Mr Maharey says it’s exciting to be working at the heart of transformational change in New Zealand’s education industry.

    www.massey.ac.nz/worldwide

  • Ministerial visits to Asia shine light on education

    In China, Prime Minister John Key’s trade and diplomacy mission included the delivery of a speech at China Agricultural University in Beijing, and an interview with Hurun Report focused on the high quality of New Zealand education. This monthly publication is a leading luxury magazine in China. 

    Also in Beijing, Food Safety Minister Nikki Kaye attended a Massey University graduation celebration at the New Zealand Embassy. The nine Chinese graduates had completed a unique World Bank-funded "One Health" programme, integrating veterinary and medical specialist topics in a single curriculum as a measure against pandemics. Four graduates completed a Master of Veterinary Medicine (Biosecurity) degree and five completed a Master of Public Health (Biosecurity), in a programme delivered over a year in New Zealand and China.

    International education was a focus of Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce’s visits to Indonesia and Viet Nam in March. In Indonesia Mr Joyce opened the New Zealand Education Fair in Jakarta, met key Indonesian ministers including the Vice-Minister of Education, and hosted a New Zealand gala dinner with guests from the food, beverage, tourism, education and energy sectors. 

    While in Jakarta, Mr Joyce also witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Auckland UniServices and the Indonesian Geothermal Association to develop specialised geothermal training courses held in New Zealand and Indonesia. This followed his delivery of the keynote speech at the Indonesia New Zealand Renewable Energy Forum. 

    In Viet Nam, Mr Joyce attended a seminar with education agents, and delivered a speech focused on transnational education partnerships at the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City. 

    In the same month, Malaysia was hosting a New Zealand delegation led by Minister of Maori Affairs Dr Pita Sharples, as special guests for New Zealand Week 2014. This festival, Lima Mata Ikan, in particular celebrated the cultural linkages between New Zealand and Sarawak. The Borneo Post International Education Fair was held in Kuching during this week.

    The announcement of the signing of the MOU between Auckland UniServices and the Indonesian Geothermal Association in Jakarta can be seen on the Beehive website.

    The gala dinner speech in Jakarta given by Minister Steven Joyce is here.

  • Full house fairs

    The fairs in Santiago, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Beijing, as well as New Zealand fairs in Surabaya and Jakarta in Indonesia, were all characterised by big crowds, with lots of keen interest shown by prospective students. 

    The prize in the round went to Beijing, where the New Zealand exhibition was awarded ‘best pavilion’ by the organisers of the China International Education Exhibition Tour (CIEET).  CIEET is acknowledged as China’s most influential international education fair ¬– the October 2013 tour attracted 443 education institutions from 32 countries, and over 40,000 visitors. Numbers were high again this year: on day one of the Beijing event, Education New Zealand staff handed out 1200 brochures. 

    We applied a bit of ‘Think New’ to our fair programme in Latin America this year. Innovations introduced in Chile included partnering with a reputable local education media/expo company to run a New Zealand only fair, which produced real improvements in the number and quality of student attendees. This bodes well for the coming fair in Bogota, Colombia. In Brazil we attended the FPP Edu-Expo commercial fairs in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro and the New Zealand pavilion at both fairs was really popular.

    Another innovation was to host a live feed from two Brazilian bloggers currently studying in Dunedin (between them this pair have an online following of several million). The sessions with Caio Komatsu and Luana Mazotti at the New Zealand stand ¬in Sao Paulo attracted a lot of attention, with the second sitting extended from 30 minutes to an hour to accommodate all the questions from students at the booth.  

    In Indonesia, the New Zealand Education Fair in Jakarta was opened by the Minister of Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Steven Joyce. The official launch, accompanied by a cultural performance by Te Puia, was well attended by over 20 media organisations, including national and cable television.

    A new aspect of the Jakarta fair was an alumnus presentation, by a graduate of Takapuna Grammar School and Auckland University. Vikra Ijas held a large audience in thrall with a humorous presentation on ‘The seven hardest things about living in New Zealand for Indonesian students’. With a closing endorsement “Life is about choices, I made the right one” it was a high value addition to the fair programme, the organisers believe.  

    Student numbers were high in Jakarta and in the fair in Surabaya the day before, with lots of the attending institutions commenting on the increased numbers of high quality prospective students, and greater awareness of New Zealand as a preferred study destination. 

    Next up: 

    March closes with events in Kuching, Malaysia (where New Zealand Week festivities are keeping Kiwis in the spotlight in lots of ways), and Shanghai and Guangzhou, China. In April, the fair round kicks off in India and in the Gulf states.

    Hyderabad fair advisory

    If you’re interested in The Hindu Education Plus fair in Hyderabad on 27 April, please get in touch with the organisers directly. Due to space restrictions we will run only a standalone ENZ booth. If you want to participate please contact event organisers directly: www.thehindu.com/features/education/article5339215.ece.
     

  • APEC card: streamline your travel

    The APEC Business Travel Card provides holders with streamlined access to 20 participating Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies. This includes many important student recruitment markets, such as China, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia, Korea, Thailand, Japan, Philippines and Vietnam. 

    As a cardholder, you will enjoy: 

    • express immigration clearance through special APEC lanes on arrival and departure

    • no requirement to apply for visas or entry permits

    • multiple entry to participating countries for a stay of at least 59 days on each visit. 

    The card is valid for three years and is based on a unique electronic pre-clearance system. The card is used in conjunction with your passport, so you need to apply for a new card when you receive a new passport. 

    For more information, including on how to apply, go to Immigration New Zealand.

  • Beyond the Summit: the world visits New Zealand education

    The Summit is co-hosted by New Zealand, the OECD and Education International. It draws together representatives of the highest achieving and fastest improving education systems in the world, as measured by the OECD through the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) survey. Invited attendees include Ministers of Education, teacher leaders, and heads of national teachers’ unions.  

    The theme for the 2014 Summit is ‘Excellence, Equity and Inclusiveness – High quality teaching for all’.

    On either side of the Summit, the delegations have opportunity for bilateral meetings with government leaders and officials in Wellington and also for visits to peak bodies and education providers. These include a chance to see how education is delivered on an urban marae in Auckland, and how Christchurch schools and early childhood education centres are responding to the post-quake challenge.

    Government officials across various agencies are working together to support the visits by the international delegations, which include education leaders from Hong Kong, Japan, Germany, Poland, Singapore, the Netherlands, UK, USA, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland and Sweden. There are also invited observers coming from Niue, Samoa, Tokelau, Tonga, Vanuatu, Cook Islands and Solomon Islands.

    For more information about the International Summit on the Teaching Profession, see the ITSP webpage. 

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