Chinese demand action on schools

By MARTIN JOHNSTON, FRAN O'SULLIVAN andNZPA

China is demanding that New Zealand clean up English-language schools as the crisis in the billion-dollar industry intensified yesterday.

The Government and education providers are scrambling to find ways to improve the foreign image of the export education industry and to arrest the slump in student numbers.

Export education was New Zealand's fourth largest industry last year.

Yesterday, a study by Infometrics Consulting showed that foreign students create 12,800 jobs in Auckland City and have a $1.2 billion a year economic impact in the region.

Education Minister Trevor Mallard will today be called to account on China National Television for the standards of New Zealand's private language schools.

In a live interview, which will be seen by millions of Chinese, Mr Mallard will debate the Government's new measures with a Chinese Education Ministry official.

To meet China's concerns about standards for its fee-paying foreign students, the Government is drawing up a list of approved private education providers.

China is insisting that New Zealand's private language schools and training institutions lift standards.

The chairman of the Association of Private Providers of English Language, Patrick Ibbertson, told the Herald last night that New Zealand providers had high standards in many areas.

"Some are higher than in China in many fields," he said.

But the Qualifications Authority needed to take a tougher line in its inspections.

He urged spot checks, rather than regular ones for which providers could cover up problems.

Mr Mallard's television appearance follows his September trip to Beijing, which was designed to reassure China that NZ's education institutions are of a high standard and safe for foreign students.

Two big education providers have failed in the past two months. The latest is the Carich group, which had several hundred Chinese students.

Chinese Ambassador Chen Mingming said yesterday that the Government had to "overhaul the private language school market".

"Some of the private language training institutions are simply not up to standard," said Mr Chen.

"Some are simply profit driven and that has scarred the reputation of the education centres.

"We believe that it is important that effective steps are taken to ensure that private language schools offer quality services, and that is important to the continuance and growth of our educational ties."

The Qualifications Authority and Education New Zealand have in a letter to schools called them to a meeting on Friday to discuss criteria they must meet.

The letter said Chinese officials did not believe the standards in New Zealand were good enough, or that the standards private trainers had to meet to set up business were enough "to ensure a quality educational experience for Chinese students".

China was insisting on being given a list of private education providers that it would place on its study-abroad website, which already lists NZ's public institutions.

Mr Mallard said that if the Government did nothing, it was unlikely any private education providers would go on the list.

"What we're doing is giving an opportunity ... to effectively get a seal of approval as part of a Chinese website."

Mr Mallard hoped the system would be operating by the middle of next year.

He said New Zealand's reputation had been affected by false promises from some education providers' agents, who had said that going to New Zealand institutions "will lead more or less automatically to people getting in to university".

Facing a crisis

* Export education was New Zealand's fourth largest industry last year, worth $1.7 billion.

* The bulk of the 80,000 students were Chinese.

* Arrivals slumped this year, by half at some language schools.

* The reasons Chinese publicity has depicted New Zealand as an unsafe place for young Asians.

* Two large education providers, Modern Age and Carich (which also trained many New Zealanders), have collapsed in the past two months.

* Intellectually disabled Japanese student Nozomu Shinozaki, 22, was allegedly murdered at the Columbus Academy in February.

* The rising value of New Zealand's dollar makes it more expensive for foreigners.