ENZ seeks Expressions of Interest to grow the Thai schools’ sector

In 2023, enrolments from Thailand were the fifth largest for New Zealand’s schools with most enrolments coming from students living in Bangkok. Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao (ENZ) is now looking to grow this market by collaborating with New Zealand schools and regional Thai education agents to build partnerships with schools in cities outside the capital city (referred to as ‘second tier’ cities).

The initiative, called the Thailand Second Tier City Promotion is planned to run in 2025-2026. ENZ is currently seeking feedback from New Zealand schools to measure interest in participating in the promotion and is running a survey until Tuesday 30 October 2024 for interested schools. 

Collaborative school clusters are invited to participate in the initiative which will form sister school partnerships with regional Thai schools. Each cluster should consist of at least three schools.

Through these partnerships, a wide range of study options for Thai students and schools will be available. This may include short-term 4-week school immersion programmes, 1 to 2 terms or full year study programmes, teacher trainings, virtual interaction, online curriculum-based collaborative projects etc. 

ENZ’s Acting General Manager - International, Mr Ben Burrowes, said that over the years New Zealand has built a very strong reputation as a high-quality education destination particularly amongst students from Bangkok. He says that this helped the market rebound significantly post-Covid. 

“With the international education market in Bangkok now highly saturated, ENZ sees this promotion as a good opportunity to help schools reach an untapped market in regions across Thailand. 

“Through working with high performing regional education agencies and in collaboration with New Zealand schools, our initiative aims to support the development of sister school partnerships in each province,” said Ben.  

“This is a strategic move to raise the profile of New Zealand’s school sector and grow interests from a new pool of prospective students and their parents,” added Ben. 

If your school is interested in exploring this opportunity, please fill out this survey by Tuesday 30 October to help us match your interest with our upcoming initiative.  Additional information can be found in this document. If you have any questions, you can email these through to NZ’s Market Manager – Philippines & Thailand, Chortip Pramoolpol Chortip.Pramoolpol@enz.govt.nz.