KEY POINTS:
The Government is to spend $10 million over the next four years to encourage overseas students to study in New Zealand.
Tertiary Education Minister Michael Cullen said today that more than 93,000 international students from 150 countries were studying in New Zealand.
The economic returns are worth nearly
$2 billion a year, making international education New Zealand's fourth largest export earner.
Education New Zealand today welcomed the Government's announcement.
Chief executive Robert Stevens said recent research indicated that satisfaction levels among international students studying here was "very high".
New Zealand's reputation was unlikely to be greatly harmed by publicity surrounding the recent sacking of Auckland University lecturer Paul Buchanan for abusing a Middle Eastern student in an email, he said.
New Zealand offered a "more welcoming and intimate studying experience" than that of its American or Australian rivals.
Dr Cullen said that for all the success New Zealand had had over the long term, there was recent experience of a decline.
"We need to respond to the decline in the number of students we have hosted here since a peak in 2003. The number of Chinese students in our English language schools was down 84 per cent last year compared with 2003, for example," he said.
Spending by international students studying English was $9 million higher this year than a year ago - up to $233m - but Dr Cullen said the country could do better.
In a speech in Christchurch, Dr Cullen said the $10m fund would be used to support and invigorate the international education industry.
He said:
* $3.4m would go to enhance the international recognition and value of New Zealand qualifications for study and employment purposes;
* $3.96m would be used to develop and implement the New Zealand Education brand strategy for the sector in 2007/08 and 2008/09, and provide an ongoing increase in the budget for generic education promotions activities.
* $2.4m would be used for "education diplomatic activity" and to fund an education counsellor in the Gulf states. This counsellor would join a network of education counsellors based in Washington DC, Brussels, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing, Santiago and Delhi. A counsellor was also planned for Seoul.
Dr Cullen said the six Gulf states - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman - collectively took $720m in exports from New Zealand over the past year, which made the region only a slightly smaller market for New Zealand than a major market like Germany.
In June, the first of 200 Saudi Arabian students arrived under a Saudi Arabian government sponsored programme.
- NZPA