Mount Maunganui Language Centre director Geoff Butler says it may have to close if the borders don't open. Photo / George Novak
Mount Maunganui Language Centre director Geoff Butler says it may have to close if the borders don't open. Photo / George Novak
A Bay language school may have to shut its doors as millions of dollars in revenue from fee-paying international students is lost from the national economy due to border restrictions.
Geoff Butler of the Mount Maunganui Language Centre says the borders need to open for international students. Photo / File
Mount Maunganui Language Centre director Geoff Butler said its school was 100 per cent reliant on international students and unlikeother tertiary institutions or industries it could not look to domestic students to survive.
The centre was due to celebrate its 30th anniversary but "with continued border closures we may need to close or hibernate the business until such time as the borders re-open," he said.
The school had fewer than half the 50 students who were enrolled last year and it was struggling to pay "huge compliance costs" as a result of Covid-19.
He said its students could be considered "the ultimate long-term tourists" and in 2019 the language centre paid $500,000 in homestay fees to local families.Butler said he found it hard to accept the Government was propping up other sectors and letting in "movie stars" from overseas, referring to the fact 31 people working on Avatar's sequels arrived through New Zealand's tight borders this month after being given special permission by Economic Development Minister Phil Twyford.
Education Minister Chris Hipkins. Photo / File
Education Minister Chris Hipkins said providers and education agencies had started a conversation about what the return of international students could potentially look like and when it would be safe to do so both for New Zealand and in students' home countries.
"We need to see robust, hard quarantine plans from providers that satisfy our public health requirements before we partially open our borders to international students. There is still a lot more work to do," he said.
Data from INZ reveals in 2018 it granted 2982 student visa applications in the Bay of Plenty which rocketed to 3666 in 2019 but this year from January to April those numbers plummeted to 1005.
Students from India accounted for the majority of applications since 2018 followed by South Korea and a New Zealand Education spokeswoman said in 2018, $167 million was pumped into the Bay of Plenty economy and the sector supports more than 1650 jobs.
The Mount Maunganui Language Centre is not alone, other providers are also feeling the pinch as a result of the dramatic drop in student numbers.
Bay Learning Academy managing director Liz Signal said its numbers started falling in January and to combat the problem they tried offering local courses but did not receive one inquiry.
"We thought we'd appeal to the local community with cake decorating, te reo Māori, metal embossing, crochet and arts and crafts. We spent a small fortune advertising and we didn't get one reply and I couldn't believe it."
She said the academy would carry on "as long as we can" and while they were doing online teaching "it is not the answer".
Education Tauranga project co-ordinator Melissa Gillingham said its service reached from Waihi to Whakatāne and covered schools and tertiary providers.
On average about 2800 international students studied in the district and she estimated that number had fallen to 1600.
Gillingham said international students contributed about $5 billion to the national economy and was the fourth biggest export earner.
"We are like the silent achiever and numbers have increased not decreased in our region."
New Zealand's style of teaching was attractive Gillingham said because "creative and critical thinking" was encouraged.
Waikato University senior deputy vice-chancellor Professor Alister Jones. Photo / File
University of Waikato coffers were boosted by $47.6m in tuition fees from 3166 international students in 2019 including 36 who paid $385,000 to attend the Tauranga campus which opened the year before.
Senior deputy vice-chancellor Professor Alister Jones said pre-Covid it expected that number to at least double this year "and grow considerably over time'.
Students had continued to study online but the longer borders were closed they may go elsewhere and "that is a major concern".
The university had gone through major cost reductions and it's going to be "a very, very tough financial environment in the next few years" and they would be looking at staffing levels closely.
But on the bright side Covid-19 could increase New Zealand's reputation as a safe place to learn and "that could be a real advantage for us".
Meanwhile Toi Ohomai has 650 international students studying at its Tauranga Windermere campus compared to 450 students from last year.
Chief executive Dr Leon Fourie said on average the annual fee for international students was about $20,000 per year and student numbers and revenue remained strong.
Toi Ohomai chief executive Dr Leon Fourie. Photo / File
"We estimate that this year's total international student revenue has increased by more than 20 per cent from 2019 – despite the challenges brought about by Covid- 19."
Popular courses were engineering, quantity surveying, culinary, logistics/supply chain management and hospitality with students coming from China, India, Philippines and Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, National Party deputy leader and education spokeswoman Nikki Kaye slammed the Government and said it was moving too slow "when it comes to opening up our international students market".
She said National would allow students in "under strict quarantine and testing protocols, to support our education sector and economic recovery".
