School bans jobs for foreign students

Auckland Grammar School. Photo / Martin Sykes

International students at a top Auckland boys school are falling asleep at their desks - and it has nothing to do with the Fifa World Cup.

Auckland Grammar says after-school jobs are tiring the boys out and, in an effort to keep them awake, it has banned international students from working.

The school's international student manager, Sandra Heslin, is also asking the Immigration Minister to restrict foreign students' work entitlements with an age limit.

"We don't like the idea of students wanting to work. We are fighting boys falling asleep in class because they are working in Korean or Thai restaurants at night," Mrs Heslin said.

"At our school, we have our own rules and they are not allowed to have a 20-hour job or whatever, because they are here for academic reasons only."

Felix Ye, Auckland Grammar's international student director, said the school introduced the ban because too many international students were turning up to class tired and sleepy.

An Education Review Office report in 2008 showed Auckland Grammar had 72 international students, from South Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan and Tonga.

Under current policy, fulltime international students, including those at high school in Years 12 or 13, are entitled to work part-time for up to 20 hours a week and fulltime during the Christmas holidays.

Education New Zealand, the umbrella organisation for export education providers, says it would not support a policy change to curb student work entitlements.

"The opportunity for part-time work is an important part of New Zealand's offering for international students," chief executive Robert Stevens said. "It allows them to meet and develop relationships with Kiwis outside their educational institution.

"From a marketing perspective it is also an important aspect of New Zealand's comparative advantage."

But Mr Stevens said schools had the freedom to take up the work rights or apply a "school-only policy", as Auckland Grammar has done.

Acting Immigration NZ chief Stephen Dunstan said the school had the right to stop international students working. Current policy required students to have written permission from both their school and parents to be eligible to work the 20 hours.

Immigration Minister Jonathan Coleman, an old boy of Auckland Grammar, said work rights for international students were being looked at as part of a Government review of the student visa policy.

"Extending work rights may attract more students and create more jobs in the export education sector.

"However, there could be negative outcomes for the wider New Zealand labour market. and with youth unemployment at around 17 per cent, this needs to be balanced against New Zealand's wider interests."