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- PTE Bacolod Fair3
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From the CE: A monumental year
Tēnā koutou katoa,
December already! Where did the past 12 months go?
The good news is that the effort that you have all put into this sector, that we are all so passionate about, has delivered results. My team tell me that enrolments for the first eight months of 2023, and the 12 months since the borders opened, have almost topped 60,000 (59,306 to be exact) and that the number of visa applications is much higher. From where we were when the borders opened this is significant and tangibly real, positive progress. It is also a positive indication for the future as many of these learners will be staying on into next year and are the foundation on which we can build further growth.
That said there is still much to do.
The recovery is not spread evenly across all sector participants and not spread evenly across New Zealand. While, at the time of writing, ENZ is yet to receive its letter of expectation from the new Government, international education was included as a manifesto focus area and I expect we will get very clear direction as to our role in continuing the recovery. This is good news too. Getting clear direction from Government enables us to know exactly what is expected and to focus our efforts accordingly.
In the short time that I have been in the CEO role, I have come to understand the importance of focus. There has never been and never will be a shortage of opportunities when it comes to international education. It is a matter of identifying the opportunity that delivers the impact and focusing our attention there. I look forward to receiving the new Government’s direction and delivering to it alongside our many partners.
The past 12 months have also been significant in the area of scholarships – the Prime Minister’s Scholarships for Asia and Latin America and the Manaaki New Zealand Scholarship Programme. Our scholarship programme was also bought to a standstill by COVID-19 and is itself recovering and recovering well. In 2023 more than 250 New Zealanders have been recipients of a Prime Minister’s Scholarship and more than 900 people from across the Pacific and Asia have participated in the Manaaki New Zealand Scholarship Programme with another 400 in the pipeline. As you know, ENZ administers these on behalf of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Both programmes successfully build enduring connections between New Zealand and our offshore partners and contribute to our communities here at home.
For all of us, our colleagues and our whānau, 2023 has been a monumental year. There is much that we can, and should, look back on with pride and satisfaction. On behalf of everyone at ENZ, I’d like to thank you for your support and for the huge amount of effort and work that has been achieved this year. I look forward to working with you in 2024 to continue the momentum towards an international education sector that is sustainable, resilient, and innovative, and of high value for students, providers, and all of New Zealand.
Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi engari he toa takitini
It is not the strength of one person alone, but the strength of many that contribute to our success.
Ngā mihi,
Linda Sissons
Acting Chief Executive - SDG
- Xavier1
- Lincoln visit (1)
- Lachlan and SeungWoo trying Judo
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Second round of German academic exchange funding programme launching in April
ENZ and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) will launch the second round of the German academic exchange funding programme on 5 April after the programme’s successful first round.
Funding will be available to researchers at higher education institutions in Germany and New Zealand. ENZ will fund early-career academics from New Zealand universities and Te Pūkenga – New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology to travel to Germany, specifically students who are close to completing their PhD and academics who completed their PhD in the last five years.
With the objective of growing the number of applications in 2023, ENZ has decided to move to a model of providing funding up to NZ$12,500 per year for up to two years, without the need for applicants to show any other sources of funding.
The German academic exchange programme is the result of the signing of a Programmes for Project-Related Personal Exchange (PPP) arrangement between ENZ and DAAD in November 2021 to strengthen academic relations between New Zealand and Germany and promote complementary research activities.
ENZ’s Market Development Manager – Europe, Adina Stoye, said the programme had done much to grow academic collaboration between New Zealand and Germany through the partnership with DAAD, which is the world’s largest funding organisation for the international exchange of students and researchers.
“We are pleased with the success of the first round of the programme and are looking forward to seeing more applications for the second round launching in April.
“As an incentive to encourage more participation, applicants are no longer required to show any other sources of funding,” Stoye said.
Ahead of the programme’s launch, ENZ has organised an online information session on Tuesday 4 April at 7pm NZT (9 am CEST).
For more information on New Zealand German academic exchange programme and to apply, please visit this link.
You can register to take part in the information session on 4 April here.
If you have any questions, please contact ENZ’s Market Development Manager – Europe, Adina Stoye on adina.stoye@enz.govt.nz.
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- IE Roadmap Strategic Roadmap 2015 Progress Update
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Student-led business sets out to break down barriers
InterStudentsNZ, a platform which will host resources and courses to meet the needs of international students, is a regional winner in the Company of the Year category in the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme. It also scooped the Excellence in Promotion Award and Paying it Forward Award.
InterStudentsNZ is the brainchild of budding entrepreneurs Mackenzie Roskruge (CEO), KimSreng Keo (Production Manager), and Russle La Morena (Finance Director), who met through the college’s international student buddy scheme. They bonded over a shared interest in education and curiosity about their cultural differences.
Mackenzie and Russle are both domestic students, but Kim arrived in New Zealand in 2018 as an international student from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, knowing no-one and understanding little of what seemed to be a strange, new culture.
He believes that international students enrich New Zealand communities and have much to offer, but that many don’t make the most of their time here because they face challenges integrating into the community and planning a future beyond school.
“Understanding how people think and how to communicate is important,” he says. “When we first arrive many of us have a big language barrier. There are even subtle cultural differences which we don’t understand, and which need explanation.”
Platform driven by students, for students
Sharing his insights of the challenges that international students can face, the friends determined that more support was needed and that a platform driven by students, for students, was the answer.
The opportunity to enter the Young Enterprise Scheme through their Year 13 Business Studies course, gave the students a chance to turn their ideas into reality.
InterStudentsNZ has big plans. The team want to create a one-stop shop for resources tailored for students to better understand New Zealand’s education system, work environment, and culture.
“For example, if a student came to us and wanted to learn about New Zealand slang, we could direct them to a one-hour course with video tutorials, quizzes and written explanations to help them master slang,” says Mackenzie.
“Or a student might want to learn about social innovation in New Zealand. We could potentially provide a one-two hour course each week for a month with case studies, opportunities for mentorship, and tools for how they could move into social innovation themselves.
Empowering international students in New Zealand
"We hope students will feel empowered to learn new subjects and inspired to remain studying and working in New Zealand."And it’s not only international students who stand to benefit. Surveys of domestic students at Waitakere College showed that they were also interested to explore topics which would likely make them more engaged and invested in their education.
The InterStudentsNZ team all plan to study at the University of Auckland next year and hope to continue developing their business. With more funding, they would like to add workplace mentorship opportunities for international students, courses in te ao Maori, New Zealand history, and New Zealand industry pathways. They also plan a blog space and a social media presence. “We’re creating a digital Aotearoa for rangatahi all around the world to explore.”
Giving international students a sense of belonging
Kim is proud of how much he has achieved since arriving in Auckland as a shy 14-year-old, and grateful for the support he has received from his New Zealand friends. “Working alongside them has been amazing and allowed me to gain so much more confidence. Now we’ve come up with this idea on how to help international students, it’s really strengthened our relationship as a team. “Our business motto is ‘Encouraging Connections’ and that sums up our goals,” says Mackenzie. “It’s about building bridges and supporting international students, giving them a sense of belonging and a great future in New Zealand.”