International school has ambitious growth plans

By ALAN PERROTT education reporter

One of the largest schools for international students is planning a big expansion despite declining numbers of new students and the disapproval of neighbouring residents.

AIS St Helens plans to expand its Mt Albert campus over 10 years to cater for 3000 students.

The campus in the grounds of the old St Helens Hospital is now limited to 570, mainly foreign, students.

AIS has total enrolments of about 1600 spread over three campuses.

Academic director Dr Michael Roberts said the plans were ambitious, but reflected AIS' confidence in the future of the export education industry.

While most schools in the international market are suffering from the dramatic drop in students from their major market, China, Dr Roberts said AIS was succeeding by changing the type of student it enrolled.

Rather than chasing more language students at the very beginning of their studies, AIS concentrated on attracting degree students.

Chinese schools produce about 7 million university-eligible graduates each year, but as their Government sponsors only about 2 million tertiary entrants, most are forced to look overseas to study.

The change in emphasis has seen AIS's component of language students drop from 50 per cent of the total roll to about 25 per cent.

But more marketing work will be required to sustain this shift as most of the degree students were already studying elsewhere in New Zealand when they enrolled.

As a result, said student services and marketing director Dr Anatole Bogatski, the expansion would succeed only if AIS could attract new students into the country.

"Overseas students know we are low risk. The higher-risk schools are small and single-course focused, while we offer multiple programmes and the financial wherewithal we have is greater."

Dr Bogatski said AIS opened a new marketing office in Shanghai this month and was establishing partnerships with Chinese universities which would see students start their degree at home, but travel to New Zealand for the final two years.

But none of the AIS plans have the approval of locals, who have formed an incorporated society, the Mt Albert Residents' Association, and held public meetings to oppose any resource consent application to expand.

Association member Mary Crotty said the suburb was not equipped to cope with so many extra students and their cars.

The roads were too narrow and already clogged with students' cars that had spilled out of the school's carpark.

"We want to co-operate with them but enough is enough. What they have now is okay, we just don't want them to get any bigger."

MPs call for inquiry

National Party MPs Bill English and Pansy Wong want an inquiry into the state of the export education industry.

They yesterday claimed the Government was passing responsibility for the downturn in the country's fourth-biggest export earner onto private institutions while ignoring the role of their own officials.

Mr English said students must be assured that their pre-paid fees and accommodation costs are secure and that the schools have been scrutinised.

Education Minister Trevor Mallard this month increased the levy on international students at private training establishments to $185 per student plus a 0.45 per cent variable fee so such costs can be reimbursed should business failures occur.