Massey farewells MARA International students

The students arrived two years ago from Malaysia and were funded by MARA to transfer into ten endorsed programmes at Massey including accounting, business, engineering and media studies. Despite the challenges of lockdown in New Zealand, these sponsored students successfully completed their undergraduate degrees at Massey at the end of Semester 1.

 MARA student Annissa Rossly

For Annissa Rossly, who has completed a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Linguistics, studying in New Zealand has been a dream come true.

“Palmerston North has been my home while I was studying at Massey and it is a great place to study with excellent courses. I love the scenery, the buildings, and the people here, but I especially enjoy studying on the grass under the trees on sunny days while listening to the birds and the ducks. Massey has widened my knowledge in my field, and I am planning to apply for the post study work visa and would like to begin my career here in New Zealand.”

Vice-Chancellor Professor Jan Thomas speaking to MARA students at the farewell afternoon tea.

Massey University Vice-Chancellor Professor Jan Thomas attended the Manawatū campus afternoon tea and wished the students well for the future.

In her speech, Professor Thomas told the students their time spent studying at Massey would have a far-reaching and positive impact on their lives, and they will always be lifelong members of the Massey community, Te Kunenga ki Purehuroa. She said the pursuit of learning is an endless journey and leaving their home to study in a different country has been a brave and life-changing decision.

Malaysia is an important international recruitment market for Massey. Its longstanding connections across different parts of the university initially were developed at the government level, under the Colombo Plan Scholarship Programme. 

Since the 1990s, the Malaysian Government has subsequently funded over 1,000 Malaysian scholars to study at Massey, through various government agencies, including the Malaysian Ministry of Education, the Public Service Department (JPA), and the Higher Education Division of Malaysia (MARA), supporting higher education of the indigenous Malay peoples abroad.

In November 2017, a delegation of six representatives from Massey travelled to KPM Beranang to present to MARA Diploma Scholars and their parents about the available programmes that these students could gain direct entry into second year undergraduate studies at Massey. This initiative saw an  increase of 76 new enrolments at Massey in 2018 from MARA’s Diploma Loan-Scholarship students.