NZ-India Sports Scholarships announced

Minister Nathan Guy and former Black Cap’s captain Stephen Fleming, along with High Commissioner Grahame Morton presented the awards at an event which also marked 101 days until the start of the 2015 Cricket World Cup.

Education New Zealand’s Regional Director for South and South East Asia, Ziena Jalil congratulated the students on winning the year-long scholarships to study at tertiary institutions around New Zealand.

“The level of students applying for the scholarships was particularly high – we are working to increase the quality and level of qualifications studied by Indian students in New Zealand and these scholarships reinforce that,” says Ziena.

The scholarship recipients are studying programmes ranging from bachelor degrees in sport and exercise to postgraduate study in sports physiotherapy and clinical exercise physiology. They will be studying at AUT, the Universities of Otago and Waikato, Unitec, UCOL and SIT.

Among the recipients are twin sisters Tashi and Nungshi Malik who are the first twins to have climbed Mt Everest, and Surabhi Date a former captain of the Indian Women’s Rugby Team.

“It was great to bring all the recipients together to receive their awards at the Cricket World Cup event in front of more than 250 Indian government, education and business contacts as well as a New Zealand business mission,” said Ziena.

“The evening was a showcase for New Zealand as a country and particularly our world-class reputation for excellence in sports and education.”

The New Zealand India Sports Scholarships programme is one of the several activities underway to deepen New Zealand’s education relationship with India. The initiative was first announced as part of the Prime Ministers’ Education Initiative which seeks to enhance bilateral tertiary education cooperation between New Zealand and India.

Almost 12,000 students from India studied in New Zealand in 2013 making it the second largest source country for international students to New Zealand.