Source: Radio New Zealand
Education New Zealand acting chief executive Linda Sissons. Supplied / Education NZ
The Crown agency charged with attracting foreign students has told MPs the fuel crisis is a potential risk to enrolments.
Education New Zealand (ENZ) appeared before Parliament’s Education and Workforce Select Committee this week.
Its acting chief executive Linda Sissons said it monitored several risks that could affect countries from which New Zealand attracted students.
“There’s a very current set of calculations being taken right now with regard to risks around fuel uncertainty, geopolitical uncertainty,” she said.
“While as yet we do not believe they’ve affected enrolments, it is something that is under weekly regard.”
Sissons said the fuel crisis could affect students’ ability to travel to New Zealand for study.
She told the committee the free trade agreement with India would benefit the sector.
She said ENZ had appointed its first regional director for India and the government recently signed research and scholarship agreements.
“Apart from that, I think that what will be particularly of value to New Zealand will be the post-study work visa situation that comes with the free trade agreement,” she said.
“Students who have done a New Zealand qualification will be able, if they have a bachelor or master’s in a STEM subject … to have extended post-study work rights and I think the ongoing value to New Zealand and to our own economy will be very enhanced by that.”
Sissons said ENZ wanted accelerated growth in Sri Lanka and was researching four emerging markets where it currently did not have a big presence – Nepal, Taiwan, Italy and France.
She told the committee there were nearly 84,000 international students in New Zealand in 2024/25.
She said they contributed $4.6 billion to the economy in direct spending by students and ENZ’s goal was to grow that figure to $7.2b by 2034.
Sissons said surveys showed New Zealand was in the top three countries for 22 percent of prospective international students and on a par with countries like Germany and Singapore.
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
