AUT staff meet with a high-level South African delegation
Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Hon Steven Joyce has stated “The international education industry is
worth just over $2 billion to New Zealand’s economy. It is a bridge between New Zealand and the world”.
AUT University is committed to its global partnerships and international students, and currently has the second largest
international student enrolment in New Zealand.
As part of that commitment AUT today received a South African delegation of high-level representatives from government,
business, education and civil society organised by the South African e-Skills Institute. The purpose of the meeting was
to discuss the possibility of collaborative research, establish ongoing organisational relationships and explore the
possibility of establishing studentships, collaborative postgraduate research, exchanges and sabbaticals.
The South African e-Skills Institute was established by the South African Department of Communications to address the
local shortage of ICT-related skills (e-skills). In this context e-skills have been defined as the capacity to
effectively use any ICT to improve life chances in a personal, community, work or education sense, or in participation
in governance processes.
The e-Skills Institute aims to grow the human resource e-skills base, embed technology into people’s lives, provide the
base for increasing equitable prosperity in South African society therefore positioning South Africa to increase its
global competitiveness. The initiative has attracted widespread interest across government, business, education and
civil society and the e-Skills Institute now has relationships with many South African and international partners.
The South African delegation and key AUT staff discussed the adoption of ICT for job creation and innovation, and
approaches being used to stimulate the innovation and creative industries. The delegation wanted to know about
frameworks for developing research, monitoring and evaluation in a knowledge-based economy – including any opportunities
for collaborative research.
AUT’s Director of International Relations and Development Chris Hawley lauded the meeting as being very successful,
saying “we look forward to growing cooperation with Universities in South Africa as a follow up to this delegations
visit”.
ENDS