MP wants more international students

Minister of Tertiary Education Steven Joyce, the man with the money. FILE PHOTO

Wairarapa MP Alastair Scott is urging schools and local authorities in Wairarapa to work together and share in a multi-million dollar international student initiative.

Mr Scott had last Wednesday attended a meeting of Masterton District Council, where he agreed with council chief executive Pim Borren, who was advocating for the authority to take advantage of business opportunities international students could bring to the district.

He said Steven Joyce, Minister of Tertiary Education, skills and Employment, had the same day announced the Export Education Levy funding of $2.76 million for initiatives that boost the international education industry and help develop new international markets in the provinces.

He said the Education New Zealand Regional Partnership Programme will get $2 million to help grow international education that will focus on growth in regions beyond Auckland, where 62 per cent of international students chose to study last year. A target had been set for the scheme to double the value of international education over the coming decade.

"Regional diversification is key to the resilience and further growth of the international education industry," Mr Joyce said.

The new round of funding will also aim to diversify markets, explore new education partnerships, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region and in Vietnam and the United States where there are existing educational links.

Education Hawke's Bay had last year helped the region achieve 8 per cent growth in international education over the previous year, through collaborations with primary and intermediate schools, thirteen secondary schools, four private training establishments, the Eastern Institute of Technology and Hastings District Council.

Mr Scott said Wairarapa schools were also producing top students, academically and in sports, and the development of the international student industry will also attract significant additional funding "so the schools can afford to buy that extra stuff you wouldn't otherwise be able to fund, just because you have full fee-paying students walking in your door".

"International student education is a big opportunity for the Wairarapa. We have some fantastic schools and kids in Wairarapa do really well, academically and in sport, and there is room in some of those schools to take on boarders," Mr Scott said.

He said there would be existing efforts to attract international students but he again agreed with Mr Borren that there needed to be a collaborative pitch to promote Wairarapa "as a destination of choice for international students".

"I don't think the colleges can or even should do it on their own, I think there needs to be a collaborative and co-ordinated approach. There's also UCOL and the Taratahi centre, and everyone can play to their strengths.

"Each college and institution has a strength and if you can put that together you have a really compelling story for a student who might want that agricultural, rural experience in clean, green New Zealand and still be close to the city, which is very attractive as well," he said.

Tina Nixon, Masterton District Council economic development manager, had been discussing educational, research, and marketing opportunities for Masterton and Wairarapa with counterparts and groups in Manawatu and as far as Hawke's Bay, he said, and "what was likely to come our way, maybe as an East Coast initiative".