Don Ishan Sirimanne: NZ’s international student numbers exceeding pre-pandemic levels; Indian students numbers on rise

We have developed new ways to help overseas students put down roots. Photo / Getty Images

OPINION

Aotearoa New Zealand’s tertiary institutions have long been some of the world’s most sought-after for international students, and the current data indicates that numbers among some key demographics have not only bounced back but are in fact exceeding pre-pandemic levels. For instance, Unitec-Te Pūkenga’s applications for the first semester of 2024, from Indian students alone, have already equalled what was received from that cohort throughout the entirety of 2023.

As institutions watch numbers keenly to detect a resurgence, applications to Unitec from students from India have reached 3097 for semester 1 this year, compared with 1550 for semester 1 in 2019. These numbers are indicative but will firm up by mid-March, when late enrolments close and the academic year kicks off in earnest.

As for our sector overall, in 2019 about 11,000 full-time equivalent students from overseas studied with New Zealand polytechnics. By August 2023, as the effects of the pandemic receded, the demand from overseas students was exceeding projections: Te Pūkenga was expecting about 4900 international students through the year, up from 2800 in 2022.

Based on what we are seeing at Unitec, we expect our own re-enrolment cycle to come back to pre-pandemic levels by 2025, a year faster than what is projected for the sector as a whole.

Aotearoa is a site of advanced studies and a doorway to success.

It is important to note that Unitec’s international students from India are already highly educated – they are typically doing their Bachelor’s degree in India and coming to New Zealand for postgraduate study that will set them on a path to career success, whether they remain in New Zealand or return to their homeland.

International education is not a path to residency, though the vast majority of students from India – at least 80 per cent who come through Unitec – want to set up their lives and build their careers here, often in the fields of tech, construction, and business. They have ambition and they see New Zealand as more of a family-orientated society than their other options, such as the United Kingdom and Canada.

Numbers for different cohorts of international students vary across institutions and course types, and Unitec’s status as a dominant player in the Indian market reflects the substantial investments we have made to attract this interest and demand; I visit India regularly and made a trip in January 2024 to visit education agents who serve as conduits for inbound students, supporting their visa applications so they can set themselves up here, meet their obligations, and make the most of their study and work experience entitlements.

The sector is enormously valuable and has built-in capacity. Export revenues for the country’s international education sector overall were worth over $5 billion pre-pandemic and were the fourth largest contributor to our economy. Importantly, we can grow this sector without adding extra cost – in other words, we already have the institutions and structures to meet the demand and grow the sector further.

We have also developed new ways to help overseas students put down roots here and add their skills and talents to the New Zealand economy. Over the 2023-24 summer Unitec held a summer job fair which attracted a huge cohort of international students – the first time we had done this, and students loved it and derived enormous value. They are extremely keen to feed in what they are learning at Unitec and about how we do things in New Zealand back into the companies they work for – building our cultural and economic ecosystem and helping our country operate at on a global scale.

Don Ishan Sirimanne is head of product marketing & international market development at Unitec-Te Pūkenga