Government to probe complaints by foreign pupils

Chinese officials are lobbying the Government over thousands of complaints from Chinese fee-paying students about the standard of English language tuition and homestays in New Zealand.

A working group of officials from both countries has been set up to deal with the complaints and other issues.

China's Vice-Minister of Education is also expected to visit New Zealand this year.

Chinese Embassy First Secretary for Education Yang Xiaochun said some of the complaints were simple misunderstandings.

Other, more serious, complaints included:

* Students choosing New Zealand for the cultural experience but finding they were in a class full of Chinese.

* Teachers not qualified to teach English as a second language.

* Students choosing New Zealand in the false belief that they would automatically gain university entrance.

* Host parents not educated enough to help students with homework or exam preparation.

Mr Yang said he believed the Government was keen to work with China, but there was still a long way to go.

"At this moment we work together to try to develop policies and try to ensure quality education in New Zealand."

Education Minister Trevor Mallard said discussions between the two Governments on education and other issues were continuing.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and education officials are in regular contact with officials from the Chinese Embassy about education matters and problems that have emerged because of the rapid growth in the sector," he said.

Chinese student Limiao Zhang came to New Zealand 3 1/2 years ago to be educated in an English-speaking country.

Mr Zhang said that although he had been lucky with his host families, many of his friends had been moved many times.

"Some [host families] take three or four students to make an income but they don't really talk to them," Mr Zhang said.

His friends had often been told not to waste too much power and to limit their shower time.

Mr Zhang also complained that Kiwi students had been unwilling to talk to Chinese colleagues, and made it difficult for them to integrate with the local community.

Another Chinese student said she was very unhappy at her homestay in Upper Hutt. "I can't use the telephone when I want and I am hungry all the time. I have to help them after dinner with the housework and I have no time to study."

The student was also disappointed that the English classes she was taking focused so little on written English.

"We paid so much money to study here so we want to get good quality," she said.

Education New Zealand programme manager John Sargent said that last year there were about 15,000 Chinese fee-paying students, out of a total 52,695 international students in New Zealand.

The industry could be worth $1.5 billion this year, up from $1.14 billion last year, although the final numbers were yet to be worked out, Mr Sargent said.

"New Zealand does not naturally have a reputation as being an Oxford or a Cambridge-type country so whatever quality reputation we can earn takes a lot of work. We can lose that very quickly," he said.

Principals Council chairman Russell Trethewey said secondary schools were increasingly reliant on income from foreign fee-paying students, but conceded that some did not invest as much as they should in qualified teachers and pastoral support for their international newcomers.

- NZPA