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NZUSA raises warning over export education ‘mad rush’
NZUSA raises warning over export education ‘mad rush’
The recent story of an international student threatening to self-immolate in the electorate office of a Member of Parliament has prompted the national students’ union (NZUSA) to call for a long-overdue reflection on the ‘mad rush’ to expand international student numbers.
NZUSA President Rory McCourt says “While we do not know all of the intricacies of this particular case, financial and emotional distress amongst international students is becoming more and more common. In the mad rush to attract international students shortcuts are being taken and student welfare is being compromised.”
“We are deeply concerned that the desperate push to increase international student numbers, particularly through a scheme where tertiary providers are now able to offer quick visa processing themselves, has resulted in a rise in the numbers of vulnerable students and the vulnerability of those students.”
“To gain a bigger slice of this ‘market’, the Government in 2013 made it easier for international students to work in New Zealand, leading many prospective students to believe that they will earn sufficient income while studying here. What we know from how many international students struggle is that that is simply not the case. Clocking up big hours in the service and food industries to get by should not be how these students spend their time in New Zealand.”
“This is made worse by agents recruiting in the students’ home countries, paid commission, with a tendency to over-promise what the tertiary provider can actually deliver in the way of support, housing and transition into work. Often the label doesn't match what's in the tin.”
Mr McCourt says increasing numbers of international students are relying on campus support services for financial and emotional support where they exist to get by, such as foodbanks and counselling services.
"We’re concerned institutions, particularly smaller ones, are not putting in the pastoral care required to look after our guests and preserve our reputation as a friendly, safe destination for foreign students.”
“These ramshackle policies have been introduced with little attention to their impact on support services or the educational experience of international students and the Kiwi students they study alongside.”
“There will be more cases like this one unless the Government takes a proper look at the impact of the changes they’ve made and whether we’ve lost sight of the welfare of international students in what is becoming a bare-faced cash-grab.”
ENDS
NZUSA - New Zealand Union of Students' Associations
We stand for opportunity, for all.
NZUSA is the New Zealand Union of Students' Associations, the national body that represents New Zealand's students' associations and the interests of New Zealand's 400,000 students at universities, polytechnics and in trades training.
We conduct original research, advocate to Government and through the media, and support New Zealand's students' associations to be more effective on behalf of their members. We advocate alongside Te Mana Akonga – The National Māori Students' Association, and Tertiary Women New Zealand – The NZUSA Women's Caucus.
Since 1929, we've believed in a society rich in opportunity, where anyone from anywhere can become any thing. We support accessible, affordable quality public tertiary education.
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