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The first step towards student re-entry
Work is well underway to put in place a new system to allow this cohort of students to enter New Zealand.
For students, there is no rush to apply for these limited spaces. PhD and postgraduate students who hold or held a visa for 2020 will be selected by education providers and offered a place in this first cohort.
The initial student selection process is being finalised by education providers and government agencies, who are also planning the support students will require on their journey to resume their study in New Zealand. Students are expected to start arriving from November, with most arriving after Christmas.
Eligible students will hold or have held a visa to study in 2020 but have been unable to enter New Zealand due to COVID-19, with priority given first to those who must be in New Zealand to complete practical components of their research and study.
Students will need to comply with New Zealand’s COVID-19 regulations, including a 14-day managed isolation period, and payment of the isolation charges. Their arrival remains subject to the availability of these facilities, to avoid preventing New Zealand citizens and residents from returning home, or essential skilled workers from entering the country.
Education New Zealand has been working with the Ministry of Education and other Government agencies and the education sector in building the student re-entry approach.
In announcing this decision on 12 October, Minister Chris Hipkins emphasised the importance of international education to New Zealand’s recovery and rebuild from the pandemic.
“We have been glad to see this initial announcement has been well-received by both the New Zealand public and the education sector,” ENZ General Manager – Stakeholders & Communications, John Goulter, says. “This group of 250 represents only a fraction of our usual international student intake. By keeping this first cohort of international students small, we can all work to make sure students have a great experience – and that they are welcomed and supported by New Zealanders.”
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ENZ’s WeChat mini programme supports Chinese students
There are currently more than 12,000 Chinese international students studying in New Zealand, and over 2,000 studying in China with New Zealand providers. Together, these groups make up 36 percent of NZ’s overall international student population.
NauMai NZ was launched in May 2019. Since then, the digital platform has had more than 9,000 students sign up, and it continues to support our international students as a key source of timely information during the COVID-19 pandemic.
NauMai is a valuable tool for international students, but analysing usage over the past 12 months reveals most Chinese students are not engaging with the platform. These students instead prefer to interact within WeChat, a Chinese social media platform with over a billion daily users.
To better support our international Chinese students while they are in New Zealand, ENZ has launched an alternative “mini programme” within the WeChat environment.
ENZ Student Experience Advisor Faymie Li explains how it will make it easier for Chinese students to engage with NauMai’s content. “The NauMai NZ WeChat mini programme will better serve our Chinese student population in New Zealand for two simple reasons: it’s on a platform that they are more familiar with and frequently use, and it’s in their language."
As well as providing students with useful information, the mini programme will also provide a platform for students to engage with each other. Students will be able to share their New Zealand life and study experience and provide peer support to others.
ENZ is hosting our first mini programme livestream with the theme ‘how to spend your summer in New Zealand’ on 28 October.
Know students who use WeChat? They can sign up for our first livestream and start exploring the mini programme by searching ‘新西兰留学生活指南NauMai NZ’ or by scanning the QR code below.
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Sign up your school now: AFS NZ Global Competence Certificate
The New Zealand Global Competence Certificate (NZGCC) is an online programme that fosters essential lifelong global “power skills”. The certification is suitable for secondary students and teaches self-awareness, empathy for other cultures, and ways to build bridges in multicultural settings.
AFS Intercultural programmes empower young people from all backgrounds with essential global skills—and the passion for making a difference. AFS developed the curriculum for the NZGCC and has partnered Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao to offer it to all students here. The programme will be delivered by Massey University.
The NZGCC pilot is part of ENZ’s short-term international student retention programme to support and connect international students staying in New Zealand over the summer holidays.
Education New Zealand’s Business Development Manager Mary Camp says the certificate teaches tangible global skills essential to live, work and make a real social impact around the world.
“Global citizens who can study, work and live across boundaries are the future.”
As part of the NZGCC programme, students will need to attend four 90-minute dialogue sessions led by Massey University Facilitators, to help unpack what students have learned in their online and offline sessions.
Mary is thrilled to be able to extend the programme to more students, “Especially to those international students who are remaining with us in New Zealand over summer”.
“We want to help them get the most out of their education in New Zealand while they are here, by making new friends, learning new skills and getting new a credential for their CV,” Mary says.
This NZGCC pilot programme runs from 30 November to 18 December 2020. The course has been subsidised by Education New Zealand and costs $190 per student.
Visit the Massey event page to sign up your school now. You can learn more about AFS on the AFS worldwide and AFS in New Zealand pages.
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From the CE: Manaakitanga in the time of coronavirus
New Zealand was the first country in the world to introduce the Code for the Pastoral Care of International Students. Regulated by NZQA, the code requires all signatories to ensure international students at their place of study are well-informed, safe and healthy.
New Zealand’s education providers have exceeded the expectations of this important responsibility in 2020. Everyone from teachers to international offices to homestay parents have done their bit to make sure our international students, so far away from home, were looked after during the COVID-19 lockdowns and beyond.
New Zealand has a well-deserved reputation for being a warm and welcoming destination. It is crucial that we continue this responsibility of care over the coming summer break when many students would have returned home, under normal circumstances.
To support this goal, ENZ has launched a new programme of activity: Tū Ngātahi, which calls for us to ‘stand together’. ENZ has created the programme to enable our international education community to express support for our international students.
The central imagery of Tū Ngātahi is the pounamu (greenstone) carved into a pikorua (twist). This design is a symbol of cultures joining in friendship and supporting one another.
You may have heard ENZ’s Paul Irwin, General Manager – Partnerships and Marketing, speaking with Radio New Zealand about Tū Ngātahi this week. The story also included perspectives from international students currently in New Zealand, who plan to make the most of their stay over summer.
We encourage New Zealand’s education providers, student associations and more to show their support for international students with the Tū Ngātahi resources (video, graphics, email footers and more), which you can find on the ENZ BrandLab.
Alongside Tū Ngātahi, ENZ is currently running the Summer in NZ campaign. Aimed at international students currently in New Zealand, this campaign will assist students who, given current border settings, must make tough decisions as the end of the academic year nears. You can explore this campaign on the new Summer in NZ NauMai NZ pages.
On Saturday, 31 October, the team will present the inaugural ‘Your Great Kiwi Summer’ virtual fair, where education providers and regional development agencies will share tips and information on how to make the most of the summer break. There is still time for students to register, so please encourage your students to sign up if they haven’t already.
Thank you again to everyone who has supported an international student this year. Our manaakitanga is what these students will remember in the years to come.
Ehara taku toa I te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini
My strength is not that of a single warrior but that of many.
Ngā mihi,
Grant McPherson
Chief Executive
Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao
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Future Focus Programme helps Publishers Association go digital
October usually sees many from the book industry depart Aotearoa’s shores for the biggest and most prestigious event on the publishing calendar – Germany’s Frankfurt Book Fair. Travelling to large, international book fairs has long been a standard part of selling New Zealand stories to the world. But with publishers, authors and agents unable to leave the country, and book fairs like Frankfurt increasingly going online, this year called for a new approach.
With support from Education New Zealand and Creative New Zealand, PANZ worked with its publishers to make the most of the Frankfurt Book Fair’s online offering. Central to this is the creation of a digital rights platform to promote and showcase New Zealand books across a breadth of publishers’ lists.
In addition to the Frankfurt fair last month, the platform will be used for other upcoming events, such as the Guadalajara Book Fair in December and the 2021 Bologna Children’s Book Fair.
“PANZ is delighted to be partnering with ENZ and Creative NZ to find new, innovative and effective ways to take New Zealand stories to the world. We know that our writers, illustrators and publishers are producing excellent books across all genres; we anticipate that this new initiative will help us to spread the word even further”, PANZ Director Catriona Ferguson says.
Rights sales in international markets are an important revenue stream for many in New Zealand publishing. In 2019, export rights sales accounted for $22.3 million across the sector. For publishers, book fairs have long offered the chance to network and find buyers in new markets as well as to buy rights to new works to bring home to New Zealand readers.
“Educational publishing is an important part of New Zealand’s international education sector and ENZ is pleased to support PANZ and help create the digital rights platform. We want to help the international education sector look at new approaches to the way they operate in a vastly changed global marketplace. The platform provides a way to promote education products and services digitally and ensure New Zealand products continue to be seen by global markets,” ENZ General Manager – Partnerships and Marketing Paul Irwin says.
The FFP was set up earlier this year in order to provide support to the international sector at a time of great challenge. It provides $1.2 million of funding to help sectors develop new approaches to strategic challenges or opportunities, through grants to peak bodies of up to $200,000 per sector. For more information, head to the FFP webpage.
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First NZ-India Education Week maintains key education connections
The schedule of online events included panel discussions, specialist masterclasses, events with alumni, a showcase of New Zealand’s Māori culture, and a daily trivia quiz.
Attendees included the New Zealand High Commissioner His Excellency David Pine, New Zealand and Indian academics, international staff at education providers, agents, Indian media, and government officials from both countries. ENZ’s India Team saw high audience and student engagement at the events, thanks to the online platform’s Q&A and chat functions.
The NZ-India Education Week is part of the New Zealand Government’s Recovery Plan for the international education sector under the third stream, ‘Transforming to a more sustainable future state’.
“The NZ-India Education Week helped us build relationships with India’s education leaders, and keep a New Zealand education experience in the hearts and minds of our Indian students,” ENZ Regional Director – Asia, John Laxon, says.
Indian students are the second-largest cohort of New Zealand’s overall international student population, behind only China. Pre COVID, they had also been the fastest growing international student cohort at New Zealand universities.
The NZ-India week builds on a number of internationalisation initiatives at a government level that will provide a platform for further growth beyond COVID-19. In February 2020 former Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters attended the inauguration of the second NZ Centre in the world at Indian Institute of Technology in Delhi, supported by all eight New Zealand universities.
“We are committed to investing in New Zealand’s education links with India for the long-term,” John says. “Indian students enrich our communities and our education institutions are partnering on world-leading research projects. With all the disruption caused this year by COVID-19, it’s very important to us that we continue to strengthen our bonds with India.”
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On the ‘road’ again
ENZ’s team in South Korea, in partnership with the Seoul Board of Education, held their first-ever online school roadshow this October. It aimed to give Korean students a better idea of New Zealand and inspire them to study here in the future.
Virtual webinars were delivered to over 500 students at 13 Korean high schools. Before each webinar, students were asked to send in their questions about New Zealand education, so their presentation could be tailored to reflect their interests.
New Zealand Ambassador to Korea, Philip Turner, supported the roadshow with a pre-recorded video.
“This strategic engagement with the Seoul Board of Education is an example of how we’re working with key in-market stakeholders to keep the dream of New Zealand education alive in the hearts and minds of our future international students,” ENZ Regional Manager – East Asia, Ben Burrowes says.
Maintaining the New Zealand brand in our offshore markets is a key part of the third workstream of the Recovery Plan for international education, ‘Transforming to a more sustainable future state’.
Elsewhere in Korea, ENZ working on connecting NZ schools with Korean schools for virtual language exchanges. In September, Team Korea launched a digital platform for a local Korean audience that shares positive stories about New Zealand’s COVID-19 response, institution updates, and inspiring stories of Korean international students.
“Before COVID, Korea was the fourth-largest student source country for New Zealand’s international education sector,” Ben says. “In 2018, nearly 2,500 Korean students studied at New Zealand schools, a five percent increase on 2017, and our market research indicates that the interest in a New Zealand education certainly still remains. It’s therefore vital that we maintain our brand presence and help to build a pipeline of Korean students for our institutions.”
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Getting started with chatbots
ENZ is the only country in the world that uses a chatbot to market to prospective international students.
Tohu is a helpful little bot that sits on Study in New Zealand, NauMai NZ, and the Study in New Zealand Facebook page.
It answers questions on everything from applying for a visa to what you can do for fun in New Zealand. It gives prospective students an answer to most of their questions immediately, freeing up ENZ’s social media team so they can focus on other projects.
ENZ’s Director of Planning, Jamie Crump, has developed a whitepaper with ENZ’s chatbot agency partner, Theta, which lays out a framework for developing a chatbot.
The five-step framework draws on Jamie’s Master of Technological Futures report, and is based on ENZ’s development of Tohu.
Because ENZ staff can train Tohu on new information at any time, the bot is a versatile tool in our social engagement team’s toolbox. So far, Tohu has been utilised in the Ask New Anything campaign, and has most recently learnt new answers on the COVID-19 situation in New Zealand.
“Prior to Tohu, with a social media team of two, it could take up to 24 hours for someone to get a response to their question. Now they can get an immediate response, and we know that Tohu can answer more than 80 percent of the most common questions,” ENZ International Social Media Manager, Nicole Baird, says.
“So the team can spend time answering the specific questions, and doing more of the strategic things for our Facebook channel, rather than answering the same straightforward questions repeatedly.”
Jamie’s initial research revealed that many people already like engaging with a chatbot, and that more and more consumers are using chatbots as a way of finding out information. For example, 48 percent of people would rather connect with a company via live chat than any other means of contact.
Tohu is integrated with ENZ’s marketing database and automation software, Marketo. Instead of completing a form, students can sign up to the receive updates from Study In New Zealand or NauMai NZ. This feature also opens up possibilities for Tohu to become a more targeted, useful channel for prospective students.
“The logical next step is personalisation of the chat experience, and that’s something we’re looking forward to exploring with Theta,” Jamie says.
Read Get started with chatbots: A proven framework for chatbot implementation
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Around the world in five
GLOBAL
Will university rankings adjust to our uncertain times?
Rankings have become a part of academic reality and, when this reality begins to change, rankings must follow suit. Hence, the ranking elite took the opportunity to discuss the possible impact COVID-19 may have on both international and national rankings.
UNITED STATES
The US issued 99% fewer student visas to applicants from China this year — here’s why
The US has granted a total of 808 F-1 visas to students in mainland China between April and September 2020, according to data from the US State Department.
JAPAN
Japan’s National Universities to Increase Number of International Students
Japan’s Education Ministry is planning to increase the number of international students who will be permitted to pursue studies at the country’s national universities in the 2022 academic year.
UNITED KINGDOM
UK 600k int’l student target by 2030 “achievable”
Despite the impact of Covid-19 on study abroad numbers, the UK government target of attracting 600,000 international students by 2030 is still “completely achievable”, according to the Home Office head of Student Migration Policy.
NEW ZEALAND
How NZ university fees compare to the rest of the world - are they too high?
New Zealand university fees are higher than those in many European and Asian countries, according to a new study. An analysis of 50 nations with top-ranking universities ranked New Zealand 14th most expensive, averaging $8595 per student per year.
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ISANA NZ Awards 2020
Nominations for the ISANA NZ Awards for 2020 are now being sought now and must be submitted by 5pm on 4 December. The three awards include:
- The ISANA NZ Professionalisation Award recognises a practitioner who has exemplified an outstanding professional commitment to their international education work.
- The ISANA NZ Award recognises an individual for their resourcefulness and outstanding commitment to international student welfare.
- The Tracy Evans Scholarship recognises the outstanding work of an individual working in the New Zealand schools international education sector.
Visit the Awards and Scholarships page on the ISANA NZ website.
Nominations to be sent to: contact@isana.nz by 5pm, 4 December.
Click here to register for the ISANA NZ Awards Ceremony at 11am, 9 December.
