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Game On English launched in style
New Zealand has teamed up its expertise in rugby and English language teaching to develop a new edu-sport programme for Japan in the lead up to the 2019 Rugby World Cup and the 2020 Summer Olympics.
On Monday 7 July Prime Minister John Key and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe launched Game On English in Auckland as part of Mr Abe's official visit to New Zealand.
The leaders threw a rugby ball to the programme’s inaugural students – Japan's national sevens female champions from Iwami Chisuikan High School – to kick off a rugby skills training session and officially launch the programme.
The Prime Ministers, current All Black Conrad Smith and Huriana Manuel, captain of the New Zealand women's sevens team and Black Fern, met and shook hands with each of the rugby players before they went through their training paces.
In the lead up to Japan hosting the Rugby World Cup and Summer Olympics Prime Minister Abe has announced a government goal to improve English language skills and increase sporting capacity amongst youth.
"As a country with an envious track record of developing the world’s best rugby players and a top quality education system, New Zealand is well placed to help the Japanese government meet their goal," says Grant McPherson, Chief Executive, Education New Zealand.
The Game On English programme matches English language providers with sports academies to deliver centrally-organised, bespoke courses for young athletes.
"Growing export revenue from international education is a key part of the Government’s Business Growth Agenda. Programmes such as Game On English are aligning New Zealand’s educational expertise with demand in the global market."
Japan is now the third largest source of international students to New Zealand.
"Our success as a country will be determined by our level of connectedness with the rest of the world. Education is one of the best ways to build international linkages.
"These students will act as ambassadors for New Zealand education promoting the quality of our education system when they return to Japan," says Mr McPherson.
The Iwami Chisuikan sevens team are studying English at the English Language Centre of Auckland Institute of Studies (AIS) in the morning and training with Auckland Rugby Academy in the afternoon for the month they are in New Zealand.
"New Zealand is very different from Japan, but the people here made it really easy for me to adapt and feel comfortable. I enjoy being able to communicate freely with people from different backgrounds in class, and the support we get from teachers is invaluable," says Iwami Chisuikan player Aoi Kurokawa.
"Kiwis train differently – they emphasise technique and make training fun. I would like to bring what I learned back to Japan."
Ran Aoki is also enjoying her rugby in New Zealand. "The best part of the programme is the training. Auckland Rugby make it fun and give invaluable comments and feedback."
"Kiwis value the quality of training in a given timeframe over accumulated hours which allows us to get the most out of our short stay in New Zealand.
"I learn English all around – in class, whilst training, and at home with my homestay family!"
In two weeks a second group of Game On English students will arrive from Japan.
Eleven secondary school players from Kanto Super League will be based in Dunedin - studying English at the University of Otago Language Centre and receiving rugby training from Otago Rugby Football Union and local Dunedin high schools.
Both groups of students are in New Zealand at the invitation of the New Zealand government to pilot the programme.
"It is our intention that Game on English will be rolled out nationally and New Zealand will support Japan in achieving their English language and sporting ambitions in the next five to six years and beyond," says Mr McPherson.
We will evaluate the pilot programme over the next month and advise the next step in due course.
Activity in India
Shopping mall campaign
Crowds flock to the shopping malls to avoid the summer heat and monsoon rains, and through the use of highly branded booths and several promoters we were able to connect with India’s growing middle class in these key metros.
The shopping mall promotion coincided with our digital campaign in India, and secured more than 1,000 campaign registrations across both venues.
Whitireia opens new office

Whitireia New Zealand announced the opening of its Bangalore office in India in July, adding to its existing office in New Delhi which opened in 2012.
Whitireia aims to use the new Bangalore office to service its key stakeholders in South India, as well as developing new relationships. The office will support Whitireia’s strategy to grow student numbers and business development opportunities in South India.
New Zealand High Commissioner Grahame Morton and Education New Zealand’s Regional Director South and South East Asia Ziena Jalil officiated at the ribbon cutting and plaque unveiling ceremony. Gavin Young, Trade Commissioner-Mumbai was also present at the occasion. The office opening was followed by an agent briefing session, a media round table and a networking reception. There has been significant media coverage of the opening.
“We are delighted to see the establishment of a southern Indian presence for yet another New Zealand education institution and we commend Whitireia on this move.
"Education New Zealand is committed to growing the number of students New Zealand receives from south India and seeing the active participation of our institutions in this market it is an excellent endorsement of that goal,” said Ziena.
Entries open for New Zealand India Sports Scholarships
“With New Zealand co-hosting the Cricket World Cup next year, a sport that Indians are especially enthusiastic about, this scholarship will raise awareness of New Zealand expertise in sport,” Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Steven Joyce says.

“India has one of the world’s largest economies and total trade with New Zealand currently exceeds $1 billion per year. The Government is focused on developing our relationship with India further so that it becomes a core trade, economic and political partner for New Zealand.

“Education is a key part of this activity, with Indian students making up the second largest and fastest growing source of international students to New Zealand.”

Mr Joyce says the scholarship programme is one of several activities underway to deepen New Zealand’s education relationship with India following a steady flow of Ministerial visits over the last few years.

“Many of these initiatives have a focus on increasing the quality and level of qualifications studied by Indian students here.”

The New Zealand India Sports Scholarships are open to Indian citizens enrolling to study bachelor or postgraduate qualifications in New Zealand beginning in 2015. Successful recipients will have their tuition fees funded for the first year of full-time study and also receive some support for living costs.

As a country with an envious track record in sport and a top quality education system, New Zealand is well placed to offer courses in sports related fields such as sport management, coaching, sports nutrition and exercise science.

Not only will qualifications in this field help Indian students gain rewarding careers for themselves, they will also serve the ambitions of both sporting nations.
New Zealand is committed to the New Zealand-India Prime Ministers’ Education Initiative and sporting education links are a valuable stream for continued engagement with India.

The New Zealand India Sports Scholarships are a partnership between Education New Zealand and the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
10,000 milestone marks new heights
“Our story has more impact when we tell it together,” says Kathryn McCarrison, Education New Zealand’s General Manager of Marketing and Channel Development. “That there are now more than 10,000 pieces of our material in circulation internationally is a great sign for the developing strength of New Zealand’s education brand.”

An online toolkit of marketing materials, known as The Brand Lab, was launched in November 2013 to make tools to promote New Zealand education more readily available. “I’d like to thank the New Zealand education providers, agents and New Zealand officials offshore who’ve so quickly used these resources to complement their marketing efforts,” says Kathryn.

“While our brand awareness is increasing, especially in China and India, we still have a long way to go in comparison to our better known competitors, so please keep telling your friends and contacts about what’s available to help their recruitment and sales efforts.”

“The sharper we look together, the greater the impact we’ll all have when introducing New Zealand to prospective students and their parents.

“We’re also fortunate to have a large pool of resources to draw on,” says Kathryn. “As well as The Brand Lab, the New Zealand Story and Tourism New Zealand’s media resources can all be used to promote New Zealand abroad, paving the way for people to introduce their product, service or school in more detail.”

The Brand Lab is home to over 1,000 education-related assets ranging from royalty-free photos to a brochure series about New Zealand education available in nine different languages. More than 1,500 people from 60 nations around the world have downloaded digital assets so far, with the most frequent users being New Zealand institutions, international agents and Education New Zealand offshore staff.

It’s free to use and download materials, following a simple request process to ensure brand guidelines are understood.

The most popular downloads so far include the New Zealand Education Story video, the Think New education brochures, a directory of Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority’s multilingual student guides.

Kathryn says The Brand Lab will continue to expand and grow. “We recently asked our industry what they needed next so coming up soon are new photos, videos and a digital toolkit to promote studying in New Zealand online.”
India – Budget update
India’s economy is struggling under high inflation and the worst slowdown since free-market reforms in early 1990s. The new government is trying to restore the confidence of domestic and foreign investors by bringing more clarity and structure to the taxation system.
Significant government funding has been allocated to the education sector. The BJP’s manifesto included areas such as girls’ education, e-learning, re-structuring of the University Grants Commission (UGC) into a Higher Education Commission and setting up National Multi-Skill Missions, with more detail about these still to be announced. The Union Government will also create a separate Ministry for promoting entrepreneurship and skills development.
The budget announced an increased investment in school, vocational and higher education. The government also identified new areas in the higher education sector for further development, such as research in agriculture, life sciences and biotechnology, film and television institutes and sports.
Some of the key initiatives which might offer opportunities for New Zealand institutions and training providers:
School education
- Allocation of NZ$97 million for a teacher training programme to introduce new training tools and motivate teachers under the Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya New Teachers training programme.
Vocational education
- Launch of Skill India, a programme focused on training Indian youth, with an emphasis on employability and entrepreneurship skills.
- Allocation of NZ$20 million for the Young Leader programme to promote leadership amongst Indian youth.
Higher education
- Five new Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and five new Indian Institute of Management (IIMs) to be established with an initial allocation of NZ$97 million in the current fiscal year.
- Five technical research centres will be identified and strengthened.
- Two new Agricultural Research Institutes of Excellence to be established with an allocation of NZ$20 million.
- NZ$39 million has been allocated to start two agriculture and two horticulture focused universities.
- Two new agri-biotechnology clusters to be developed.
- Two biotechnology clusters planned in Bangalore and Faridabad.
- Five technical research centres to be strengthened through private public partnerships for nanotechnology.
- Global partnerships will be developed to transform the Delhi chapter of the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) into a world-leader in life sciences and biotechnology.
- Two film and television institutes will be established.
- A National Centre for Excellence in Animation, Gaming and Special Effects has been proposed.
- NZ$20 million has been allocated for the establishment of a sports university in Manipur. An additional investment NZ$20 million is included for training sportsmen and women for upcoming Commonwealth and Asian games.
Policy/Education loans
- The government has proposed simplifying procedures to facilitate education loans for higher studies in order to promote higher education amongst youth.
- The budget announcements present a range of opportunities for New Zealand institutions across different areas.
- The policy on easing education loans will help boost demand for foreign education.
- A focus on teacher training presents a range of opportunities for New Zealand institutions in the areas of capability development and delivery.
- The focus on research in agriculture and biotechnology could attract collaboration with New Zealand institutions that have a high level of expertise in these areas.
- New Zealand has global expertise in animation, gaming and special effects and the establishment of a National Centre for Excellence could offer opportunities for stronger engagement and collaboration in this field.
- New Zealand enjoys high level of sporting ties with India at various levels therefore the proposal of new sports university and sports training offers opportunities for New Zealand providers.
The Education New Zealand team in India has a strong level of engagement at various levels with the Ministry of Human Resource Development and various government stakeholders in India.
For more information please contact Ziena Jalil, Regional Director – South and South East Asia, india@enz.govt.nz
New social media launch in China
“Last year our awareness levels in China grew 17 per cent between April and December,” says Kathryn McCarrison, General Manager Marketing and Channel Development.
“With year-on-year growth in enrolments and student visa approvals from China, we want to continue building on this momentum in a top priority market for New Zealand.”
The number of Chinese students studying at a New Zealand institution was up 3 per cent in 2013 on 2012 and this growth looks set to continue, with student visa approvals from January to March this year increasing by 24 per cent.
In August new ‘Study New Zealand’ Weibo and WeChat sites will launch, targeting a youth audience with fun, informative and interactive content about studying in New Zealand.
Weibo is a microblogging platform, similar to both Twitter and Facebook, with more than 129 million monthly active users and more than 61 million average daily active users. Described by Forbes magazines as the world’s most powerful app, WeChat is a similarly popular mobile messaging app used by more than 350 million monthly active users.
The China team will continue to support the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Embassy’s Weibo account – supplying all-important content about bilateral education and research collaborations which demonstrate the depth of New Zealand’s strong education relationship with China.
“We are focused on profiling the dual opportunities New Zealand offers to China, as a high-quality and committed strategic education partner for our education products and services, and as an exceptional study destination,” says Alex Grace, Regional Director – Greater China.
Whereas social media activity will reach a wide audience, recent campaign activity in China was targeted at those actively considering studying abroad, particularly at university level.
The campaign, which remains active until the end of July, matched prospective students to an agent to find out more information about studying in New Zealand.
To date, over 6,500 prospective students have registered to find out more about New Zealand and these enquiries are being actively followed up by four agencies, who will in turn provide these qualified leads to New Zealand institutions.
Investment in international education provides boost
Over $600,000 of co-funding was awarded in the third round of International Education Growth Fund grants to a mix of projects across the international education sector aimed at growing New Zealand’s international education industry.
The University of Waikato received co-funding to partner with law schools in China to enable Chinese students to complete their Chinese LLB and undertake a LLM at Waikato, as well as to enable Waikato students to obtain LLM qualifications that are recognised in China.
Study Applied Sciences – a marketing alliance of Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT), Eastern Institute of Technology (EIT), Universal College of Learning (UCOL) and Otago Polytechnic (OP) – received co-funding to create print and digital material to raise awareness in Germany of applied science at New Zealand institutes of technology and polytechnics.
Other successful initiatives include a collaboration of four high schools from Auckland and Tauranga to attract more students from Mexico and a project by Hamilton-based Online Education Ltd to translate its ‘Code Avengers’ online computer programming and web development courses for new markets.
“A common theme across this round’s participants is collaboration, an imperative for the industry if we are to achieve our goal of increasing the value of international education to New Zealand to $5 billion by 2025,” says Grant McPherson, Chief Executive of Education New Zealand.
The IEGF offers co-funding to new and innovative projects targeted at international markets. Education New Zealand invests between $10,000 and $50,000 per project to match successful applicants' funding.
“Over three funding rounds we have invested just over $2 million in 59 growth projects that have helped develop new education products, opened the door to new markets, and facilitated contacts that will lead to new business or investment.
“International education brings social and cultural benefits to New Zealand, as well as contributing to economic growth, and we welcome opportunities to develop the market offshore for our world-class education programmes, products and services,” says Mr McPherson.
Applications for round four of the International Growth Fund open on 1 September 2014.
Think New Kicks Off in Thailand
Running from 5 August to 31 October, the campaign’s objectives are to generate enquires from prospective students which will then be followed up on by ENZ Recognised Agencies.
The campaign will promote New Zealand education generally, but advertising will primarily target prospective school and tertiary students in line with current demand.
The campaign follows recent campaign activity in China, India, Brazil and Japan.
Thailand is a priority market for Education New Zealand with significant potential for growth.
The number of Thai students studying in New Zealand increased by 6 per cent in 2013 and along with ENZ’s new structure within the region, the campaign is the start of increased focus on New Zealand’s largest source country of international students in ASEAN.
Download the campaign overview
Visit the campaign website.
Online visa application update
Immigration ONLINE – Student will allow international students around the world to apply, pay fees and upload supporting documents online. The new service will be available to full fee paying, scholarship, exchange and English language students.
Student applicants will still need to provide passports. This can be done offshore through Visa Application Centres or, if the applicant is already in New Zealand, through the INZ Palmerston North office.
Apply on behalf of functionality – for INZ’s third party partners such as immigration advisers, education agents and education providers – is now set to go live in 2015. Later this year INZ will provide more specifics around the delivery timing in 2015.
While the new system provides international students with a new way to apply for their visas, it does not affect existing services. All current student visa processes remain.
Education agents can continue to use current methods of applying on behalf of applicants, and information about Immigration ONLINE – Student is being made available to agents so they can continue to give advice about application options to prospective student.
For further information, please read detailed question and answers on Immigration New Zealand’s website.
Insight into China Education Developments
Produced by our China team, the latest report provides a roundup of China’s education developments during the first half of 2014 and follows their January report which was picked up and reported around the world.
Sam Mackay, Senior Education Manager in Beijing, says the Insight Report is the China team’s way of keeping industry up-to-date with changes in the region.
“There’s so much information flying around about Chinese education developments that it can be hard to keep current. We developed the China Insight Report so you can stay abreast of the key trends in this top priority market for New Zealand.”
“We’ve also tried to deliver it in an engaging manner. You can contemplate our ‘questions to ponder’, try your luck at some of this year’s Gaokao questions, and even enjoy a (somewhat related) dance clip.”
Download the China Insight report here. We welcome feedback to china@enz.govt.nz.
Quick summary:
- The number of Chinese students heading overseas rose in 2013, but at a slower rate than previous years.
- Chinese international student enrolments in New Zealand rebounded, exceeding the 25,000 mark for the first time since 2007. Strong growth occurred in the school and university sectors.
- Postgraduate student numbers within China are falling due to the introduction of tuition fees. Interest in ‘professionally oriented’ postgraduate programmes, however, is rising.
- A record number of graduates are finding employment prospects tough. The expected monthly salary has fallen 2000 yuan over the past three years.
- China’s vocational education system is being transformed. Changes to the exam system, institution entry processes and a boost in the number of higher vocational institutions are all in the works.
- Global acceptance of Gaokao has increased as the exams get reformed. A technical stream to the exams will be introduced, and students will be able to sit their English exams periodically throughout the year.
- Chinese parents are increasingly asking providers to illustrate the return on investment.