Government policy hurts education providers; no clear policy in sight
Venkat Raman
Auckland, December 11, 2021
China dominates the international student sector with 7072 valid student visas, followed by India at a distant 2664 and South Korea with 1460 students.
According to Immigration New Zealand (INZ), the total number of international students on valid student visas as at the end of April 2021, accounting for a significant decline from 51,580 international students recorded during the same period in 2020.
The figures do not include students pursuing their doctorate (PhD) degrees and those paying the same fees as domestic students.
To that extent, the figures do not reflect the accurate position but suffice to say that the border closure has had an adverse impact on the arrival of international students.
New Zealand is fast losing its image as a destination for foreign students, with the government showing its indifference towards export education. Student numbers, especially those from India, have dropped significantly since the Labour government came to power in September 2017. Despite repeated requests from Universities, tertiary institutions and Private Tertiary Establishments, there has been no sign of improvement.
Indo-Kiwi relations dips
In the case of India, political relations with New Zealand took another dip late last month (November 28, 2021) when New Delhi declared New Zealand on its ‘At Risk Countries List,’ while Australia, which records more than 1000 Covid-19 cases (among them are increasing number of Omicron cases) every day, has not been included.
Subsequently, the Indian government removed Bangladesh (on December 1, 2021) and Singapore (on December 9, 2021) from the ‘At Risk Countries List’ but retained New Zealand along with the United Kingdom and other countries in Europe, Brazil, Botswana, China, Hong Kong, Israel, Mauritius, South Africa, Zimbabwe.
Even with the advent of the Delta Variant, New Zealand is among the countries with the lowest incidence of the virus.
The ‘At Risk Countries’ category requires travellers to undergo special tests and if tested negative, follow home quarantine for seven days, re-test on the eighth day of arrival and if negative, further self-monitor of their health for the next seven days.
Sharp decline of foreign students
According to John Gerritsen, a Reporter at Radio New Zealand, the number of foreign students studying in New Zealand during normal times is about 86,000 ‘at any given time’ and about 115,000 during the course of a year.
“The private sector was worst hit with just 3181 students remaining in the country, a fall of about 72%. Polytechnics had 2892 full-fee foreign students, a drop of 69% since April last year, while universities had half as many full-fee-paying students as at the start of the pandemic with 8914. There were 4197 foreign students in schools, down from 10,500 in April last year,” he said.
The RNZ report said that the figures also showed that there were 1828 people outside New Zealand with a valid study visa, down from 9272 in April last year.
More than half of those outside the country had visas to study at universities, and more than 500 had visas for primary or secondary schools.
No clear policy
According to the Report, industry insiders said that it was not clear when international students would be allowed to return. They told RNZ that though the government had said that the borders would reopen at the end of April, INZ had extended its halt on visa processing for most people until August 2022.
In addition, the sector is waiting to hear from the government about its plan to rebuild international education with less emphasis on work and residence rights, both of which had been significant drawcards for many students in recent years.
