15 October 2013 at 9:00 am
Govt announcements welcomed
Last week Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Immigration Minister Michael Woodhouse announced new initiatives to make New Zealand a more attractive study destination for international students.
The new initiatives included allowing more English language students studying at high-quality providers to work part-time, providing full-time work rights during all scheduled holidays to international students who take a course of one academic year or more, and giving unlimited work rights to international PhD and Masters by research students. Immigration New Zealand (INZ) will also no longer grant visas to students seeking to enrol at the few providers in Category 4, the lowest status granted by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA).
Detailed questions and answers about the announcements are available on the INZ website.
Education New Zealand (ENZ) has shared this news with agents and overseas media, with the announcements receiving good coverage via Facebook page postings, media coverage and via informing and engaging agents.
Grant McPherson, ENZ Chief Executive, said last week: “Changes to government policy settings and regulations are incredibly important in supporting your efforts to grow international student numbers – we’ve heard that through the industry survey, the roadshow meetings and the feedback ENZ staff have taken on board at many meetings around the country.
“These announcements are great news for our international competitiveness, but they’re not the end of the story. We will continue to work closely with agencies on initiatives to help grow our industry and we encourage you to stay in touch with us about the opportunities you see to further remove barriers to growth.”
