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Putting New Zealand in agents’ hearts and on their maps
Education New Zealand (ENZ) recently organised a series of agent familiarisation tours.
Four groups were immersed in New Zealand’s learning, living and working opportunities for international students.
Agents from Brazil, Colombia, South Korea and Saudi Arabia were treated to tours of New Zealand’s special places – from regional centres to our bigger cities.
ENZ’s regional and international teams organised the programmes and toured with the agents over May and June. They were shown the full spectrum of the sector, and were also given updates and presentations from government agencies like Immigration New Zealand and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA.
“The agents enjoyed and appreciated the chance to learn about education in New Zealand, meet current international students and understand the distinctive offerings for students across all of New Zealand,” said Greg Scott, ENZ Regional Programme Manager.
The tour included interactive activities, including an emphasis on education pathways, applied learning and creative technologies, and special open-invitation networking opportunities, like the Networking Starts at Home event
The agents visited Taranaki, Nelson, Canterbury, Waiuku, Hamilton, Dunedin, Queenstown and Napier.
COLOMBIAN AGENTS SARA GAMEZ AND ANA KARINA FAJARDIO ENJOY TIME AT AUT BY THE NGA WAI O HOROTIU MARAE
“As our regional centres become better known international education destinations, the agent familiarisation tours demonstrated how each regional centre has a unique story and value proposition that can appeal to different student interests,” says Greg Scott.
The potential benefit to increasing the profile of New Zealand education amongst all these markets is immense.
“The feedback from the participating agents was extremely positive and heartfelt,” says Sarah Gauthier, ENZ Regional Project Manager.
“We ensured the agents enjoyed themselves and their time in New Zealand. They enjoyed tourist activities, speaking to international students and their homestay families and gaining a deeper understanding overall of the value of a New Zealand education.”
“We are seeing lots of photos of New Zealand on the agents’ social media feeds and their agencies’ websites,” says Jo Keane, ENZ Regional Project Manager.
“We’d like to thank all the people, organisations and regional groups that supported these familiarisations,” says Sarah Gauthier.
“It was a true Team New Zealand effort. We appreciated the time everyone took to host us, meet the agents, organise tours and ensure that the students were available to speak to the agents in their own language.
“There’s nothing like hearing why New Zealand is such a great place to be a student than from real international students. By speaking about their study, lifestyle and work opportunities, the tours were really brought to life,” she says.
KOREAN AGENTS ENJOY THE NELSON SUNSHINE
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Chilean delegation visits New Zealand
A Chilean delegation visited the Waikato, Otago and Manukau Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics (ITPs) recently.
The delegation included officials from the Chilean government scholarship scheme ‘Tecnicos para Chile’ (Technicians for Chile) and was hosted by Education New Zealand. The purpose was to enable the Chileans to see first- hand the New Zealand ITPs who are receiving Chilean students under their government’s scheme, to meet staff and view the facilities.
The Tecnicos para Chile scholarship programme, was established in 2010 by the Chilean government with the aim of upskilling technicians and providing economic and social benefit back to Chile. The scholarship focus is different in each receiving country with the New Zealand programmes focusing on sports, shipping-logistics, agriculture and sustainability.
Three hundred scholarships are awarded annually for international study, for up to two years, including attending English language classes. Since 2011, up to 20 Chilean scholarship students have studied in New Zealand annually. Applicants apply for a vocational training course approved by the Chilean agencies, with the pre-requisite that they must have already completed a degree and have two years’ work experience.
The Chilean students currently study at Waikato Institute of Technology and Otago Polytechnic both of which have partnership agreements in place with the Chilean Ministry of Education. As a result of the visit, a new partnership agreement has been signed with the Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) which will receive Tecnicos para Chile students in the future. The delegation were very impressed with what they saw at all three ITPs during their trip. “Highlights included the quality of the technical training and the innovation in New Zealand’s teaching methodology,” said Carmen Luz Farias, Director, Tecnicos para Chile.
In future, these scholarships will be expanded to include a programme aimed at improving and enhancing the skills of Chilean teachers delivering the agriculture curriculum at secondary school level. This ‘Train the Trainer’ programme will be run by Otago Polytechnic.
“Otago Polytechnic has been grateful to have the Tecnicos para Chile delegation visit both our Dunedin and Cromwell campuses. The students who participate in the scholarship programme are of a high standard. We highly value this market and it is a great fit for Otago Polytechnic,” says Alex Huffadine, International Director, Otago Polytechnic. “We are looking forward to the increased number of programmes in the future with Tecnicos para Chile, and in particular ‘Train the Trainer.”
If you would like to know more about Tecnicos para Chile contact Javiera Visedo Javiera.Visedo@enz.govt.nz
AT OTAGO POLYTECHNIC CROMWELL CAMPUS. LEFT TO RIGHT - ALEX HUFFADINE DIRECTOR OTAGO POLYTECHNIC, WILLIAM PEREIRA CHILEAN SCHOLARSHIP STUDENT, SIU YIN ANDREANI INTERNATIONAL COORDINATOR AND CARMEN LUZ FARIAS DIRECTOR
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Economic valuation of international education underway
An update of the economic valuation of the international education industry is currently underway in New Zealand.
Education New Zealand is responsible for commissioning an economic valuation analysis of the international education industry. This research provides the quantitative evidence for the industry’s contribution to New Zealand.
Infometrics and National Research Bureau have been commissioned by ENZ to estimate the current size of the international education industry including expenditure by foreign students in New Zealand. The research includes surveying international students (and in some cases their guardians), via either a web-based or paper survey.
The valuation follows a similar exercise in 2012 /2013 when students were also surveyed. An interim valuation was produced in 2014 which valued the international education industry, at $2.85 billion, supporting more than 30,000 jobs.
A copy of the report and an infographic of key findings are downloadable here.
An updated economic valuation report is expected in October 2016.
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Putting us in their hearts and on their maps
Some 21 agents from Brazil, Colombia, South Korea and Saudi Arabia were treated to tours of New Zealand’s special places.
ENZ's regional and international teams organised the programmes and toured with the agents over May and June.
“The agents really enjoyed and appreciated the chance to learn about education in New Zealand, meet current international students and understand the distinctive regional offerings for students across all of New Zealand,” said Greg Scott, ENZ Regional Programme Manager.
The tours included stops in Taranaki, Nelson, Canterbury, Waiuku, Hamilton, Dunedin, Queenstown, Napier, Wellington and Auckland.
Each tour contained lots of interactive activities and emphasised education pathways and applied learning and creative technologies.
The potential benefit to raising the profile of a New Zealand education amongst all these markets is immense.
“The Korean agents indicated that their understanding has greatly increased of everything New Zealand has to offer,” said Tania Woodcock, International Market Manager, China, Korea and Japan.
“So far, the feedback from the participating agents has been extremely positive and genuine,” said Sarah Gauthier, Regional Project Manager.
“We ensured the agents enjoyed themselves and their time in New Zealand – so that they could speak authentically to prospective international students and their families about the value of a New Zealand education.”
ENZ was seeing lots of photos of New Zealand on the agents’ social media feeds and their agencies’ websites.
“This type of engagement with New Zealand post-famil is great,” said Sahinde Pala, Regional Project Manager. “It shows the impact we made on the agents, and their commitment to promoting New Zealand education.”
“We’d like to thank all the people, organisations and regional groups who supported these famils,” said Sarah.
“It was a true Team New Zealand effort. We appreciated the time everyone took to host us, meet with the agents, organise tours and ensure that relevant international students were available to speak to the agents in their own language.
“There’s nothing like hearing why New Zealand is such a great place to be a student than from real international students. By speaking about their study, lifestyle and work opportunities, the tours were really brought to life.”
For more information contact Sarah Gauthier, Regional Project Manager, sarah.gauthier@enz.govt.nz
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New student support portal launched by India Government
“With the big increase in our students making New Zealand their education destination choice, we felt the time was right to extend our outreach to them for the best international experience for them and their families,” said Mr Sanjiv Kohli, High Commissioner of India to New Zealand.
The new portal has been welcomed by Education New Zealand and its NZ Inc partner agencies, Immigration New Zealand, Ministry of Education, New Zealand Qualifications Authority, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
“We are committed to supporting these kinds of initiatives, and we encourage providers to share this information with their relevant student cohorts,” said John Goulter, Education New Zealand General Manager, Stakeholders, Communication and Intelligence.
“We all want our young people to take advantage of the opportunities available to them, and an international education experience broadens horizons and possibilities.
“Safety and well-being is a critical part of New Zealand’s international education journey and we are always looking for ways to support our international students.”
More information on the Government of India student portal can be found here. Indian students are encouraged to register.
Last month, the New Zealand Government strengthened the education code for pastoral care and established a dispute resolution scheme. New Zealand was a world leader when it first introduced the pastoral care code in 2002, and well-being initiatives for international students continue to be a significant part New Zealand’s education environment.
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Huge response to Indonesia promotion
Prime Minister John Key and Education New Zealand Chief Executive, Grant McPherson, recently visited Indonesia. One of the highlights of the trip was a Jawa Pos event in Surabaya involving 2,500 students and 500 teachers to promote a competition to win a trip to New Zealand.
Jawa Pos is the largest newspaper group in Indonesia with over 500,000 copies circulated daily. Zetizen is Jawa Pos’ new news portal targeted at young people aged between 12-23 years old.Jawa Pos wanted to generate a buzz around the launch of their new platform. After consulting with NZ Inc. in Indonesia it was decided that a competition to win a trip to New Zealand would be the perfect hook to grab young people’s attention.
The tagline of the competition is: be a good Zetizen and go to New Zealand. Young people are being tasked with taking a positive action in their community and writing a short essay about why they should be chosen to come to New Zealand.
Jawa Pos has been profiling New Zealand and New Zealand educational institutions since the competition launched in May. The newspaper group will fly 34 young Indonesians to New Zealand in November for the trip of a lifetime – all captured and documented by a group of journalists who will be accompanying them.
Education New Zealand, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade are putting together a fantastic programme. The group will visit schools and tertiary institutions in Auckland, Rotorua and Wellington. They will also get the chance to sample the wonderful tourist activities and fantastic food New Zealand has to offer.This competition is giving New Zealand fantastic profile and reaching a very targeted age group. These young people may very well go on to study in New Zealand.
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Get involved in INZ’s Pathway Student Visa pilot
Invitations to take part in the pilot were sent to over 500 primary, secondary and tertiary providers on the basis that they have a student visa application approval rate of 90% or higher for the 2014/15 financial year.
INZ has not received replies from all the providers that were invited to participate in the pilot, and would like to encourage all eligible providers to get involved.
INZ will resend invitations to eligible providers that are not already participating.
If you think the previous invitation was sent to an incorrect email address, please email pathwayvisasfeedback@mbie.govt.nz to advise.
What is a Pathway Student Visa and why should I offer it to my students?
A Pathway visa allows a student to undertake up to three consecutive programmes of study on a single visa. The visa can be granted for a maximum period of five years.
The programmes of study can be at a single education provider (e.g. Years 11-13 at a secondary school), or can be at up to three different providers (e.g. English language studies, followed by foundation studies, followed by a degree programme).
In terms of funds, INZ needs to see that tuition fees have been paid for the first year of study or first course of study (whichever is shorter). Students must also prove funds to maintain themselves for the same period (the first year, or the first course).
INZ does not need to see liquid funds for the subsequent years/programmes of study, but does need to be satisfied that the student will be able to fund the rest of their stay, e.g. their parents have a regular and stable income.
More information on Pathway visas, including a list of providers that are already participating in the pilot, can be found on the INZ website.
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Koreans land safely into New Zealand schools
They are in New Zealand for an eight-week programme that includes English language provision. The programme is a direct result of the Free Trade Agreement signed in December 2015 between New Zealand and South Korea.
Peter Bull, ENZ General Manager International, said the Korean students are the children of farming or fishing families, and are all high performing students.
“The opportunity to study in New Zealand and to represent their family, school and Korea in this inaugural year of the scholarship scheme saw students go through a selection criteria that whittled down over 2,000 applications to the 150 selected.”
ENZ partnered closely with the Schools International Education Business Association (SIEBA) to implement the scholarship scheme in New Zealand through its member schools, and to help manage the logistics involved in coordinating such a large group of students at once.
Peter paid tribute to SIEBA for also delivering orientations in the three regions to ensure that the transition into New Zealand life was as seamless as possible for the Korean visitors.
A highlight of the orientation programme occurred at Canterbury’s Pudding Hill Lodge, near Methven. The students were welcomed with a waiata from some talented Mount Hutt College students. This was followed by a very warm welcome from Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce that was then reciprocated by the Korean students.
The other welcome ceremonies were held at St Paul’s Collegiate School in Hamilton, which was attended by the Korean Ambassador, and President of EPIS, the Korean agency responsible for the implementation of the programme, and at Garin College in Nelson.
As agreed under the KNZFTA, 450 students will be granted scholarships to study in New Zealand over three years.
The arrival of the students has made the headlines in the local press. Here are just some of the stories which have been published so far.
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Where education meets technology, cyber-romance blooms
Among the attendees was a group of New Zealand edtech companies and educators. Representatives of Massey University and Linewize joined the New Zealand Technology Industry Association (NZTech) Chief Executive, Graeme Muller, and Education New Zealand (ENZ) Business Development Manager, Adele Bryant, at the event.
“NZTech formed the EdtechNZ Association last year so it was fantastic to offer members the chance to scope one of the biggest edtech events in the world,” said Graeme.
Altogether about 20 New Zealand delegates were in Denver which provided the opportunity to learn about global edtech trends, meet prospective partners and scope the possibility of exhibiting at the associated Expo usauin the future.
“The conference featured an amazing array of professional learning and collaborative networking opportunities while the expo hall showcased a wide range of edtech tools and solutions,” said Adele.
Attendees could choose from more than 1,000 sessions in a variety of formats to support all learning styles.
“The passion of teachers for using edtech tools to engage, manage and extend learners was evident from the start and suggests that the future for edtech in the classroom is bright.
“A key take away was that educators were looking to spend more time engaging with students and less on developing their own resources, so easy-to-use and educationally sound tools which met learner needs were sought,” said Adele.
“Supplying that technology is big business. The global edtech sector is estimated to be worth over $100 billion and Kiwi companies are keen to raise their international profile and provide solutions to meet that growing global demand.”
Kiwi edtech success story Hapara (a cloud-based instructional management system for educational institutions) provided the New Zealand delegation a welcome opportunity to meet and network at a ‘Kiwi Hour’ onsite at the conference. Among the group were Auckland-based edtech companies, Kami and Booktrack as well as Core Education and Network for Learning. Representatives of the Manaiakalani Trust delivered a Visible Learning session on the programme.
The NZTech-led group also attended a breakfast session on the role of schools and edtech companies in professional learning. The group reconnected there with Karen Billings, Vice President of the Education Technology Industry Network (ETIN) of the Software Information and Industry Association (SIIA) who was a speaker at ENZ’s first edtech for export (‘et4e’) conference.
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Fourth ‘et4e’ merges with NZTech Education Technology Summit
NZTech and ENZ combined forces again to introduce an edtech stream into a broader technology and education theme that attracted some 250 educationalists and edtech delegates.
The Minister of Education, Hon Hekia Parata, opened the summit with an announcement on the development of a new digital technologies curriculum.
“Having just returned from the world’s largest convention on education and technology, it is comforting to know that every country is struggling with how best to mix technology and education,” said Chief Executive, Graeme Muller.
“But what they all agree on is the importance of a new style of teaching, and the introduction of computational thinking and enquiry-based learning models are accepted as the way forward.”
Like ISTE, there was a strong emphasis in the sessions on the importance of collaboration between educationalists and edtech companies to identify and solve problems in the classroom.
“I found a lot of value as a member of an EdTech company in attending a conference alongside the educators that are passionate about technology in their setting,” said Louise Duffy of Invercargill-based Essential Resources.
“It gave some excellent insights into some of their challenges and how to better support technology in education.”
