A key driver of national prosperity
New Zealand has been accepting international students since the 1950s. From an initially politically coloured education aid activity to the planned expansion of the international education market, New Zealand increasingly regards the recruitment of international students as a key driving force for the country’s prosperity.
International education is listed as New Zealand’s fifth-largest export industry and is included in the country’s broader national economic growth agenda.
The strategy behind the growth
To increase its attractiveness to international students, New Zealand has adopted a set of targeted strategic measures:
- Formulating international education support policies and promoting coordination among functional departments;
- Focusing on international education publicity and promotion to build a strong study-abroad brand;
- Comprehensively improving the quality of international education and paying attention to what international students gain;
- Implementing an international student wellbeing strategy to strengthen students’ sense of satisfaction;
- Improving the study-rights protection system to raise international students’ sense of security.
What the higher education strategy addresses
New Zealand’s Ministry of Education released its higher education strategy, which sets out the long-term strategic direction and medium- and short-term core priorities for the next five years.
The government states that although the existing higher education system has achieved certain results in talent development and research foundations, it still faces multiple challenges: completion rates are low for some groups, including Māori, Pacific peoples, disabled people and low-income groups, below the level of high-performing international systems; graduate skills are mismatched with employer needs; the degree of research commercialisation and depth of industry collaboration lag behind comparable countries; and regional education resources are unevenly distributed, failing to fully support regional development. At the same time, technological change, population ageing and intensifying global competition for talent place higher demands on the adaptability and foresight of the education system.
To address regional and group differences, the government plans to rebuild a sustainable network of regional polytechnics over the next five years, using a consortium model to guarantee the supply of local education resources and meet the skills needs of regional industries and communities.
Basic education institutions need to integrate with other education services, employers and social support systems to improve learner retention. Vocational education institutions need to connect with regional labour market demand and deepen cooperation with local industries and Māori tribes. Higher education institutions need to strengthen collaboration with public research organisations, share large-scale research infrastructure, and promote industry-academia-research integration. They also need to expand international research cooperation and strengthen links with the Pacific region and top global institutions to enhance the international influence of New Zealand research.
Challenges New Zealand still faces
New Zealand has achieved certain results in attracting international students, but it also faces challenges: increasingly fierce competition in the international education market, the difficulty of balancing quality service with economic returns, and insufficient resilience to international education risks. Going forward, it will further optimise supporting policies for attracting international students, adopt more diversified recruitment strategies, and promote the connotative and sustainable development of international education.
What the wider education evidence shows
At the worst point of the pandemic, more than 1.6 billion children in 180 countries were forced to stop attending school. As of 28 March 2020, the pandemic had left more than 1.6 billion children and adolescents in 161 countries unable to attend school, close to 80% of all enrolled children worldwide.
The pandemic hindered progress in education, and many efforts to provide remote tutoring during school closures failed. Even so, people combined past evidence with current circumstances in innovative ways and arrived at practices that worked.
One such example is research in Botswana, which built on decades of evidence on teaching at the right level and student tutoring while innovatively delivering it according to students’ learning environment. During the pandemic, students’ learning environments changed dramatically: instead of sitting in classrooms listening to lessons, they received telephone teaching at home.
FAQ
How long has New Zealand been accepting international students? New Zealand has been accepting international students since the 1950s, moving from education aid with political overtones to a planned expansion of the international education market.
How does New Zealand view international student recruitment? New Zealand increasingly regards the recruitment of international students as a key driving force for the country’s prosperity.
What strategic measures has New Zealand taken to attract international students? New Zealand has formulated international education support policies to promote coordination among functional departments, focused on publicity and promotion to build a study-abroad brand, worked to improve international education quality and students’ sense of gain, implemented an international student wellbeing strategy, and improved the study-rights protection system.
What challenges does New Zealand face in attracting international students? It faces increasingly fierce competition in the international education market, difficulty balancing quality service with economic returns, and insufficient resilience to international education risks.
What does the higher education strategy say about regional education resources? The government plans to rebuild a sustainable network of regional polytechnics over the next five years, using a consortium model to guarantee local education resource supply and meet regional industry and community skills needs.
Does the strategy address research collaboration? Yes. Higher education institutions are to strengthen collaboration with public research organisations, share large-scale research infrastructure, promote industry-academia-research integration, expand international research cooperation, and strengthen links with the Pacific region and top global institutions.
Where does international education sit in New Zealand’s economy? International education is New Zealand’s fifth-largest export industry and is included in the country’s broader national economic growth agenda.