 |
 |
 |
|||||
 |
|||||||
 |
|||||||
 |
|||||||
|
2. Outcome of the 2008 Education NZ Trustee Election 3. IMMIGRATION ADVISERS LICENSING ACT 4. New ENZ Research & Resources Website and Interactive Forum 6. Possibility of a NZ – India Bilateral FTA 7. End to UK Scholarships - More Students to NZ? |
||||||
|
It was great to see so many of you at the 2008 International Education Conference “Connecting the Dots” at the Langham Hotel in Auckland. The industry was well represented with around 400 delegates attending from all sectors. This year was the first to feature a special afternoon for Primary and Intermediate Schools, and the response was very promising. If interest is high enough, the half-day programme may be expanded to a full day for the 2009 Conference. Hot topics this year included immigration and the controversial introduction of the Immigration Advisors Authority (see more in this e-news). Looking for the next big growth market was also creating some buzz. Institutions were keen to see how New Zealand measured up against our main competitors according to the i-graduate survey results. Four awards were handed out at the annual Awards Dinner. This year’s winners included Macleans College, University of Otago, National Trade Academy and Victoria University. For more details about the award winners, you can read the press release HERE. Looking forward, we will be holding next year’s conference in Wellington. The dates are not yet confirmed, but we look forward to more great networking and information in a year’s time.
|
|||||||
The new Trustees are:
Thank you again for your support to all education exporting institutions, Members of the Trust and those who stood for election.
Arguably the most contentious matter that was discussed at the recent ENZ conference was the implications for education exporters (and their offshore agents) of the recently passed Immigration Advisers Licensing Act. The purpose of the Act is an attempt by the Department of Labour to clean up the immigration consulting industry. However, it appears that institutions and agents in the education export industry will be caught up in the government’s new regulatory regime. The implications of this are serious for education providers – with a costly and onerous annual licensing process, and severe penalties for breaches of the Act (fines of $100,000 or seven years in prison if caught). Below is a very brief overview of the main points in the Act. Background: In early 2006 the Department of Labour consulted Education New Zealand during the drafting of the legislation, and gave undertakings that onshore education providers and offshore education agents would be specifically excluded from the legislation. In a lengthy submission to the Department (2 May 2006) on the draft Bill, ENZ argued that it was “rational, sensible and justified” for the government to exclude offshore education advisors and onshore institutions. We requested that the Department further consult ENZ and the wider industry if there was any redrafting of the Bill that would have an impact on international education (in other words, any move to include offshore education advisors and onshore institutions). The departmental assurances of excluding education exporters aligned with hansard statements at the introduction of the Bill from the then Minister of Immigration and the Select Committee Chairman that drafted the Bill. However, the interpretation of the legislation by the newly established Immigration Advisors Licensing Authority appear to be at odds with this earlier interpretation, and the assurances given to Education New Zealand. ENZ’s response: immediately following conference, Education New Zealand engaged Chen and Palmer, one of Wellington’s leading public law firms, to examine the issue and provide us with advice on options. We now have an independent opinion on the implications for education providers, and we will be posting this on the Community Forum very soon for your convenience. At a policy level, our advice suggests that a critical clause in the legislation is open to a variety of interpretations, and coupled with the earlier stated intent of the legislation, this gives the education export industry a strong case for an exemption. Education New Zealand is working with our legal team to urgently prepare a case for exemption for education providers and their offshore education agents to be placed before the government. We will keep you abreast of this critical development. Main Points in the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007 What is the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act 2007? From 4 May 2009, the Immigration Advisers Licensing Act will require that everybody in New Zealand who gives immigration advice with or without reward be licensed under the Act or exempt from the requirement to be licensed. The law will apply from 2010 to persons located both on and offshore. Persons who give advice in breach of the Act can face fines of up to $100,000 or imprisonment for a term of up to 7 years. What can education providers in New Zealand do under the new Act without being licensed? If the provider is located in New Zealand at the time the advice is provided, they may: Provide information that is publicly available or that is prepared or made available by the Department of Labour; What can education providers outside New Zealand do under the new Act without being licensed? If the provider is not located in New Zealand at the time the advice is provided, they may: Provide information that is publicly available or that is prepared or made available by the Department of Labour; What are education providers prohibited from doing without being licensed? A provider located in New Zealand at the time the advice is provided must not provide advice in relation to any matter under the Immigration Act whatsoever. This includes but is not limited to applications for student permits and visas, applications for residency, applications for work permits and applications for visitor’s permits. Can we get an exemption? The Act includes a mechanism by which classes of persons can be exempted from the requirement to be licensed. Education New Zealand is currently working with Chen Palmer to prepare an application to the Registrar of Immigration Advisors for such an exemption for education providers in New Zealand who give immigration advice.
Education New Zealand regularly commissions research on behalf of the industry, and makes it available online via the educationnz.org.nz website. In order to make our extensive database of research and resources easier to access and use, we have launched a new Research and Resources website which you can check out HERE. All research reports are now categorised to make them easier to find, and also tagged with key words so that you can find reports on topics of interest to you without sifting through all of the other research. Brief summaries are shown for each report to help you decide whether you are interested in downloading the full report. The Resources page will contain presentations from Conference and other events, as well as useful links, and information about the researchers commissioned by ENZ. But the most exciting addition to the website is our new interactive forum. Now you can register to participate in online discussions about research, student support, marketing and all of the issues that are important to the industry. It’s an opportunity to network with peers, share ideas, and even make travel plans for education fairs. Register now to start using the forum. The Draft 2009 PACE Calendar was distributed and discussed at the ENZ Conference; if you missed out it is available online HERE New Zealand Education Fair, Khon Khan, Thailand 28th November OCSC Scholarships Fair, Bangkok 29 & 30 November
Education New Zealand is committed to the active liberalisation of offshore trade policy settings in the field of education. The ENZ Chief Executive represents the international education sector on Hon Phil Goff’s Ministerial Advisory Group on Trade Strategy as ‘behind-the-scenes’ counsel for New Zealand’s overall trade negotiation strategy. For a number of years, ENZ has been using this forum to push for a New Zealand-India Bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA). In this context, it is most pleasing that last year Phil Goff and the Indian Commerce Minister agreed to undertake a joint study into the possibility of a free trade agreement between India and New Zealand. It is normal practice for countries contemplating the negotiation of an FTA to begin the process by exploring the issues through a joint study. Decisions on whether to commence FTA negotiations are normally taken once the study is completed (which we understand will be shortly). On behalf of the education export industry, Education New Zealand intends to send a submission to the New Zealand Government in support of taking a decision to commence FTA negotiations. If a positive decision is taken, then this submission could guide the barriers for elimination by New Zealand officials. In this regard, we would like to hear from institutions on the market access trade barriers that you are facing in this significant market. We want to hear from you if you have examples of government barriers to: (i) profit repatriation; (ii) local partnering requirements; (iii) government licensing requirements; (iv) government approvals for joint-ventures; (v) government restrictions around recruitment; (vi) difficulty in obtaining working visas to teach in India; and (vii) government agency lists for consumer guidance. If you have examples, please send them to Robert Stevens at robert.stevens@educationnz.org.nz
Last month, the UK announced an end to Commonwealth Scholarships to students from developed countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Now there has been an announcement ending the Overseas Research Students Awards Scheme (ORSAS) which provided funding for overseas postgraduate research students to study in the UK. With these scholarship opportunities disappearing in the UK, New Zealand’s scholarship programmes for overseas students may enjoy a new surge in interest. The New Zealand International Doctoral Research Scholarships (NZIDRS) will appeal to those who may have previously applied for an ORSAS grant. And even our domestic PhD fees for international students will have an increased value with fewer British options available. While it is unfortunate that New Zealand students will no longer have the opportunity to pursue the Commonwealth and ORSAS scholarships, there is a silver lining in the potential increase in overseas interest in New Zealand as an affordable study destination for high-performing students.
The British government published details on July 30 of what it describes as "strict new rules for foreign students," as part of the biggest shake-up of the country's immigration system in nearly half a century. The new regulations, which could go into effect as early as next year, are intended to ensure that only bona fide students who can show proven educational track records are able to travel to Britain on student visas, and that those who intend to stay in the country for more than a year have sufficient resources to support themselves. All student-visa applicants will be fingerprinted, and students who have been allowed entry on student visas must obtain biometric identity cards. At the same time, the government would loosen restrictions on foreign students' ability to work after graduation, allowing them to stay on for up to two years. The limit is now a year. The proposed new rules will require all institutions that recruit foreign students to have a government-issued license, and those institutions will be asked to shoulder greater responsibility for their international students than they have previously. "We will expect education providers, as the immigration sponsors of their students, to report where the student fails to enrol or stops attending," the government's statement of intent says. That new reporting requirement "will be part of an education provider's sponsor duties and will be mandatory," the statement says. "Failure to comply with these duties means that an education provider will risk losing their license and will no longer be able to recruit international students." The new system of licenses, to be issued by the UK Border Agency, will replace Britain's Register of Education Providers, a list that was set up four years ago in part to deal with the proliferation of bogus institutions. Almost half of the 256 institutions on the list that were inspected since 2005 had to be removed, the BBC reported in January. The government says that the new license system will be "tougher" than the registry, because "providers will need to prove that they are genuine institutions which are audited, inspected, or accredited for education provision." Wes Streeting, president of the National Union of Students, Britain's main student organization, also praised the limits the new rules would impose on "on low-quality, 'bogus' colleges." "These colleges are conning international students out of significant sums of money and undermining the UK's international reputation for educational excellence," he said in a written statement. Both the student group and the university leaders' organization also welcomed the new work provisions. Mark Bickerton, director of student recruitment at London Metropolitan University, which has London's largest foreign-student population, said that the government's proposed changes were "timely." Although the new system will require universities to do more to monitor and track their foreign students, Mr. Bickerton said this would pose no significant burden. "That's a good thing," he said. "We all need to be kept on our toes and monitored to make sure that the students we've got are doing what they're supposed to be doing."
The World Trade Organisation’s Doha talks in Geneva ended on July 29 in a failure to reach any agreements or make significant progress. The World Trade Organization’s General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), the services section of the larger Doha talks, has a low profile in higher education communities, partly for the reason that education is a low priority in GATS. And GATS itself was only a sideshow at the latest ministerial talks of the Doha Round negotiations, which broke down on 29 July. The talks collapsed over the inability of the US and India to compromise on the extent to which developing countries should be able to shield themselves from agricultural imports. Nothing about branch campuses there. GATS is a work-in-progress that mandates WTO member governments to reduce barriers to trade in services through successive negotiating rounds. Although higher education is a subsector covered by GATS (which, to some, constitutes proof of its commodification), it is not clear which countries have offered and requested what in regard to access to home and foreign HE markets. The most recent tallies we can find of these positions are in two papers, both dated May 2003, from the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education and the AUCC. They show that the US requested the liberalisation of HE markets in all WTO countries and made further specific requests, for example, in asking China to lift its ban on for-profit operations. They show that Canada made no offers or requests in HE and that the position of the EU (a single negotiating entity) was not entirely clear. Following the breakdown of the recent talks, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) hinted that its government had made HE commitments under GATS but this was explicitly contradicted in a release from the Press Information Bureau. Meanwhile, Education International in Brussels reports that Australia and New Zealand have joined the US push to open foreign markets.
The Vietnamese government has been very determined in its attempts to improve the quality of education in the country. The 2006 World Development Report by the World Bank reported that the Vietnamese education budget is considerably higher than that of some other countries in the region. The government spends 18% of total public expenditure on education and, according to Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem, this will increase to 20% in 2010. As a proportion of GDP, education spending in Vietnam in 2004 was 4.3%, in Russia it is 3.8%, in the Philippines 3.2% and in China 2.5%. Unfortunately, this considerable spending has not yet produced the desired results. There is broad consensus within Vietnam that the country’s education is facing steep challenges and some even say it is in crisis. The most obvious manifestation of this is in the lack of skilled labour. According to the 2006 World Bank report, Vietnam lags behind other countries in the region in higher education enrolment rates, with only 2% of the population receiving 13 or more years of education. Vietnam ranks last in the region in the rate of people between 20 and 24 years old to receive education after high school; only 10% of the population in this age group attend universities or colleges. The figure for China is 15%, for Thailand 41%, and for South Korea it is an impressive 89%. The demand for higher education is ever-increasing and it is now putting the Vietnamese higher education system under pressure. The number of students increased nearly ten-fold – from 150,000 in 1990 to 1,400,000 in 2005 – while the number of faculty has increased by only 60% – from 30,000 to 48,000. This worsening shortfall would less be a problem if the majority of university graduates in fact met the demands of the globalised labour market. Vietnamese students study extremely hard to meet degree requirements but are still unprepared or ill-prepared for the workplace. The higher education system does not sufficiently encourage analytical skills and critical enquiry. In addition, students lack the communication skills to convey thoughts and ideas clearly. They also lack a significant understanding of other cultures, which is needed to inform decisions with a broader and deeper perspective. Many even lack essential teamwork skills. Since 2006, an average of 16,000-18,000 Vietnamese students have gone abroad to study each year and there are an impressive 40,000 abroad in total. According to the annual report of the American International Education Institution, Vietnam is now in the top 20 countries with the largest student population in the US. The number of Vietnamese students in Australia is about 10,000 and in the UK about 4,000. Beginning in 2006-07, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) put into place training programmes at several Vietnamese universities for the purpose of meeting international standards. The first nine universities have been selected for joint bachelor’s programs with established American counterparts, using American curricula and training methodologies. In general, Vietnam’s system of higher education has made significant progress in targeting the needs of a multi-sector economy, diversifying schools in terms of structure and ownership, restructuring curricula, developing credit-based programmes and expanding training opportunities. These are among the significant areas of improvement. However, the Vietnamese education system is still bogged down by a general inability to respond to the demands of socio-economic development, as well as to promote research and innovation. Obviously considerable soul-searching is required in Vietnamese education regarding vision, objectives, methodologies and management. In fact, its values system needs to be revisited wholesale. Using public funding, Vietnam plans to train 20,000 PhDs by 2020, half of whom will be trained abroad. Cross-border education is also developing rapidly in Vietnam. Beginning in 2009, international universities will be permitted to open branches in Vietnam. Along with expanded economic opportunities, more and more middle- and upper-class Vietnamese citizens will wish to offer their children the best education possible. Branches of international universities as well as joint degree programs with Vietnam and international partners will no doubt become prime choices. Vietnam has been identified by Education New Zealand as a major “depth market” where there is a large potential for growth. New Zealand institutions are already playing a role in forging closer educational ties with this country. Victoria University last year set up a campus in Ho Chi Minh City, choosing Vietnam for its first foray into offshore delivery. |
|||||||
|
|||||||
