Welcome
Kia Ora,
Welcome to the latest edition of e-News. Remember to mark your calendars for the New Zealand International Education Conference on August 5-7 in Wellington. Registration details will be available soon.
Waka Jumping – What’s Being Done?
Many institutions have raised their concerns about “Waka jumping” – a practice where students are recruited by an institution, but upon arriving in New Zealand with their student visa immediately switch to another (usually less expensive or shorter) course at another institution.
Education New Zealand has been lobbying the government to implement policy changes that will put an end to this practice.
We are advised that officials from the Ministry of Education, New Zealand Qualifications Authority, and the Department of Labour are working to address these issues and have made some progress. MoE is reviewing the refund policy in relation to private training establishments in the Education Act 1989, with a view to potentially allowing more flexibility in the setting of refund policy, and in the proportion of the fee which may be retained by a provider when an international student withdraws.
The Department of Labour is actively considering immigration requirements for international students seeking to change provider. We understand that the Department will be providing advice on this matter to the Minister of Immigration in the near future.
Hopefully these changes in policy will proceed in the near future, and provide some assurance to institutions that their new recruits will stay enrolled.
2008 – A Look Back
The Ministry of Education has recently released the Export Education Levy data for the full year 2008 (which you will now find on the Statistics page of our website under Levy Statistics.) It gives us a good opportunity to look at the numbers and reflect on the year.
Overall numbers:
The total number of International Fee-paying Students declined by 3% in 2008 to 88,557.
However, when translated into Equivalent Full-time Students, the decline is only 0.9% or 439 EFTS. This suggests that the greatest declines were among short-term or part-time students.
By sector:
The schools sector shows a slight increase in student numbers, but the EFTS total actually shows a decrease of 2.8%. Primary and intermediate numbers appear to be the worst hit, down 15.6% in overall numbers or 14.5% in EFTS.
Secondary and composite numbers, in contrast, have both increased.
Polytechnics remained stable compared to the previous year. They showed a slight increase in student numbers, but a slight decrease in EFTS.
Universities, however, were significantly down. They show a 10.4% decrease in total numbers and a 12.6% decrease in EFTS. This is attributable, at least in part, to the last of the “China boom” students completing their studies and leaving university.
For private providers the news is better. Although the overall numbers show a 2.6% decrease, the EFTS show an increase of 14.7%. This shows that more students are choosing private providers for long-term studies. The largest decline appears to be in the English Language area, with Business and Computer Studies continuing to grow.
By market:
Diversity of nationalities seems to be improving from year to year.
In 2008, China’s dominance continued to decline as long-term students who arrived during the “boom” finished their studies. Whereas in 2005 China had more students in New Zealand than the second biggest market (South Korea) by over 20,000 students, that margin in 2008 was around 7,000 students.
2008 also saw a significant increase in students from India, who now make up 6.8% of our international student population (up from 4.1% in 2007.)
Saudi Arabia went from our 8th largest market to our 5th largest, contributing 4.6% of our international students.
Malaysia entered our top ten markets, while Taiwan slid into 11th place.
Economics:
Due to an increase in tuition fees across most sectors, the decline in student numbers did not translate into a decline in revenues.
Total tuition fees paid by International Fee-paying Students actually increased by 0.9% or almost $5.5 million.
Outlook for ’09:
So far 2009 is looking like a strong year in comparison. Looking at the partial year numbers of First-time visas granted, we have over 3,300 students more students entering New Zealand between July 2008 and March 2009 than we had during the same period last year. Strong growth from India continues, as well as a recovery in new starts from China and South Korea.
International Student Levy Review
The International Student Levy is the $900 flat fee charged to state schools for international fee-paying students. Education New Zealand has been lobbying the Ministry of Education to eliminate this fee, and charge state schools the same Export Education Levy charged to other institutions. (At present, the Export Education Levy is deducted from the $900 ISL.)
The Ministry asked Price Waterhouse Coopers to undertake a review of the ISL. The results are now available on the Ministry’s Education Counts website.
No action has been taken as a result of the review at this stage. However, in Education New Zealand’s view the review supports the argument for a reduction or elimination of the ISL. We will continue to push for a result in this area.
25% of UK Institutions “Dodgy”
(via Not-So-Foreign, April 8)
Immigration officials in the United Kingdom appear to be getting serious about blocking the student visa route to illegal immigration. The UK Border agency has refused more than 460 of the nation's colleges and schools from using their admission letters as a means of foreign students getting visas to come to the country.
“Dodgy,” is what UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith called these institutions, which number about 25 percent of the reported 2,100 organizations bringing visa students to the UK.
Critics of the announcement include recognized and respected UK institutions concerned the new approach may make it difficult for bona fide students to get visas to their schools and colleges.
Legitimate education institutions in the UK are likely oblivious to how much fraud and misrepresentation is going on around the world in the name of studying in the UK. The new regulations, if policed, would hit hardest at thousands of education agencies around the world who work with hundreds of UK institutions to obtain admission letters for visa applications. With institutions in the UK making money from application fees and non-refundable deposits, and education agents charging handsome service fees, both make enough money up front not to be concerned whether a “student” gets a visa. It's a plenty profitable business. Meanwhile, for UK immigration officers, it has added to a growing pile of files, and to the degree of difficulty in assessing bona fide from bogus applicants.
Competition for Teen International Students
Those of you with long-term international students in intermediate or secondary schools may wish to let them know about this competition. They could win up to US $3000.
Clements International Global Insurance Solutions is sponsoring the International Expat Youth Scholarship. The eligibility is students, ages 12-18, of any nationality, who have spent at least two years living outside of their home country. The contest entry deadline is Friday, May 15, 2009, and the scholarship recipients will be announced mid-September 2009. They require a 500 words or more essay describing how their life has been affected by living as an expatriate, plus photographs, illustrations, paintings, or video illustrating the topic of the essay. The contest details and registration are available online at: www.expatyouthscholarship.com.
E-news is a newsletter for the Export Education industry, compiled by Education New Zealand. You can access previous E-news newsletters on our website at www.educationnz.org.nz .
With Regards.
Education New Zealand
www.educationnz.org.nz