13 April 2021 at 12:26 pm

Feedback from education agents opens up conversation on how ENZ can better support them

A survey of over 440 education agents globally has thrown up valuable insights on the kind of ENZ-led initiatives, training and support that would most benefit agents.

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Over half (57 per cent) of those surveyed are members of the ENZ Recognised Agency (ENZRA) programme.

The survey, a cross-team ENZ initiative, was a useful opportunity to open up a conversation with agents and to continue to support them while borders remain closed.

Over 40 per cent of agents surveyed said that that 75 to 100 per cent of their business activities had changed or reduced due to the pandemic. Agents also reported experiencing a reduction of staff, closed branches and transitioning to fully remote operations.

ENZ-supported webinars, online and hybrid events were most valuable to agents, followed closely by digital collateral and marketing material, support for student-facing activities, B2B events with education providers and training.

On training needs, 60 per cent of agents surveyed said that they would like to receive training on student visa application processes, 50 per cent were keen on hearing about New Zealand education providers and their offering, while 40 per cent were keen for more professional development training.

Videos, templates (including banners and PowerPoint presentations), student testimonials and brochures were reported to be the marketing tools that agents find most useful.

ENZ’s Manager – Education Agents, Geneviève Rousseau Cung, says the survey is a key component of ENZ’s agent engagement plan as part of the Government’s Recovery Plan for International Education.

“Insights from the survey will allow ENZ to develop activities, tailored communications and training initiatives that are best aligned with agent needs, which in turn, will also inform and result in better outcomes for education providers.

“Seeing how the agent engagement plan is linked closely to the longer-term recovery of international education, it is crucial that we check in with our agents on a regular basis,” Geneviève says.

The current plan has three areas of focus – supporting the ENZ Recognised Agencies Activity Fund in New Zealand and offshore with marketing initiatives, driving the agent engagement plan through a range of initiatives, and ongoing recognition of the role of education agents.

For enquiries:

Keep an eye out for the full results from the Agent Survey in the next issue of ENZ’s The Insight Story, due out in early May.

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