Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Push for more international students

By bridie.witton@dailypost.co.nz
Rotorua Daily Post·
16 Oct, 2015 08:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

INTERNATIONAL: Rotorua Boys' High School international students (from left) Ratu Uluiviti, Kantesia Rimon and Josevate Raikote enjoy studying in Rotorua. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER

INTERNATIONAL: Rotorua Boys' High School international students (from left) Ratu Uluiviti, Kantesia Rimon and Josevate Raikote enjoy studying in Rotorua. PHOTO/STEPHEN PARKER

Rotorua schools are pushing to bring more international students to the city, reaching out to Europe, Asia and South America.

Meri Gibson, marketing director for Education Rotorua, the collective of secondary schools and tertiary providers established to grow international student numbers, said more and more schools were getting involved with the group which made the city easier to market.

She said international student numbers were increasing, and there were about 1500 students here at any time.

"It depends on what time of year they are here and how long they are here for," Ms Gibson said.

"I know that Rotorua Boys' High School has had a 50 per cent increase this year and they were happy with the numbers they have got. Each international student requires more resources than a domestic student. The Government sees international students as one of the ticket items for growth."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She said international education had a predicted $60 million contribution to the local economy, as well as contributing to the school.

"For a school each international student brings so much more revenue. If you were thinking about building a new building, or buying a new van ... every international student is a huge financial gain."

Ms Gibson said it also benefited other students to study alongside international students.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I think the other big thing is it broadens the horizons of the students, so they see what's possible and what is achievable."

John Paul College international director Mike Dwight confirmed the school had visited Thailand recently and met with prospective students.

Ms Gibson said the Rotorua English Language Academy had visited New Caledonia, Japan, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Czech Republic, Korea and Japan to attract students to the school.

She said there was about a one-year lapse from meeting with students and agents before students started coming into the country.

Discover more

Dance victory 'highlight of the year'

21 Oct 11:30 PM

Big smiles at school's new look playground

21 Oct 05:30 PM

"If it's a new market it can take a year or more but an already developed market can be much sooner."

She said Education Rotorua had met with a group of Brazilians in April this year, and had students enrolled from July.

"It's about establishing trust."

The collective was reaching out to primary and intermediate-aged children, who were often from Korea, Japan and China, she said.

It was beneficial to get students involved in the education system earlier.

"Primary school children, for them they are learning English a lot more quickly and becoming enmeshed in the education system much earlier."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She said intermediate-aged children had been through Mokoia Intermediate, although there were not any international students on the school's roll currently.

Rotorua Boys' High School student Kantesia Rimon is currently in year 12 and is from the Solomon Islands. Kantesia said he began at the school last year, and wished he had come sooner.

"Definitely it would have been a much better option [to come sooner]. Education in the Solomons isn't as advanced, so really we have just started incorporating Cambridge. When I came here I had never had an exam."

Kantesia had plans to study medicine, either in New Zealand or abroad, once he had finished studying at the school.

Fellow Rotorua Boys' High School student Ratu Uluiviti, a keen rugby player from Fiji, said coming to the school sooner might have benefited his rugby playing.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

live
Rotorua Daily Post

Up to 50 people evacuated from homes after wild weather, clean-up begins

11 Jul 08:08 PM
Rotorua Daily Post

'Merry hell' in Mamaku: Village held 'to ransom' by hoons

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Rotorua Daily Post

Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

11 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Up to 50 people evacuated from homes after wild weather, clean-up begins
live

Up to 50 people evacuated from homes after wild weather, clean-up begins

11 Jul 08:08 PM

The North Island is expected to get off to a wet start this morning, with lingering rain.

'Merry hell' in Mamaku: Village held 'to ransom' by hoons

'Merry hell' in Mamaku: Village held 'to ransom' by hoons

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

Bay home crowd rallies behind netball's Magic

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Tearful hunter admits shooting and killing friend

Tearful hunter admits shooting and killing friend

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP