Care rules for foreign pupils may relax

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Young foreign students could study in primary schools in New Zealand without the need for a legal guardian if pastoral care rules are relaxed.

The Ministry of Education is reviewing the pastoral care code for international students which requires those aged 13 and under to live with a parent or legal guardian while studying here.

The ministry said some schools had argued for this to be relaxed.

They want primary school students to be allowed to live with relatives who are residents or citizens, to be treated the same as intermediate-aged students and have "approved" providers to enrol young international students without the requirement to live with a parent or legal guardian.

Education Minister Anne Tolley said although greater flexibility could potentially allow more international students to be enrolled in primary schools, she still needed to be assured of student safety.

"I would want clear and specific advice from the sector on how they would ensure the safety of any young international students being educated in New Zealand without their parents," said Mrs Tolley.

The ministry is seeking feedback from industry providers.

"Greater flexibility would allow more young students to take advantage of a New Zealand education, and would potentially increase enrolments and revenue flow for providers," it said.

"Balancing these advantages are risks that would need to be managed ... maintaining quality care, moral hazards and potential fraud."

Belmont Primary School principal Bruce Cunningham says any relaxation to the guardianship rules will be helpful in these tough economic times.

Mr Cunningham said the $10,000 school fees paid by international students often provided the "financial lifeline" to schools including his own.

"We get $284,00 in grants, but our annual expenditure is $550,000, and I have to locally raise about $266,000," he said.

"Having more international students will make that a lot easier, and I would support any relaxation of rules to bring more in."

There were 88,557 international students enrolled in New Zealand who paid education providers $600 million in fees. The national economic benefit in foreign exchange was $2.36 billion.

International student agent Do Hee Seol, whose company Bona School had specialised in bringing in Korean students as young as 7 until the guardianship policy was introduced in 2003, predicted student numbers could skyrocket if the rules were relaxed.

"Parents like to send their children to a Western country for education when they are very young, because they believe the younger they are, the more they are able to absorb," she said.

Bona School has 20 students in schools on Auckland's North Shore, mainly on visitor's visas where the guardianship rule does not apply.