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New Zealand is building education links with various Asian countries, while its nearest neighbour, Australia, has committed AUS$7.5 million (US$6.2 million) in an Australian-Asian student exchange programme.
New Zealand has announced a free trade agreement with Malaysia that it is confident will boost the number of Malaysian students studying in-country. Education New Zealand’s Chief Executive, Robert Stevens, said that Malaysia is currently the 10th largest source country for international students in New Zealand. “Trade Minister, Tim Groser, has given Education New Zealand a confidential briefing about the implications of the agreement for the trade in education services,” he reported, “and we are confident that it will provide a platform to further grow the cross-border trade in education... in all modes of supply.”
Meanwhile, a doctoral scholarship exchange has been set up with China, allowing up to 10 doctoral research students from New Zealand and China to study in the other country via a government scholarship.
And in Australia, Minister for Education, Julia Gillard, announced earlier this year that a scholarship programme between Australia and Hong Kong, the Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Scholarship Programme, has been extended for another 10 years. This is part-funded by the Australian government and co-funded by Cheung Kong Holdings Ltd, each contributing AUS$7.5 million (US$6.2 million), enabling 2,000 student exchange and research fellowships for Australian and Asian scholars.
In addition, a National Asian Languages and Studies in Schools Program (Nalssp) initiative has seen a further AUS$2.75 million (US$2.2 million) earmarked for boosting the number of Australians studying Asian language and culture. Countries singled out for focus are China, Indonesia, Japan and Korea. The money will be awarded to seven organisations (primarily universities) that bid to receive funding for projects. Examples of winning projects include “a new strategic partnership approach to Asian Language Teacher Education” offered by the Australian National University. According to the Business Alliance for Asia Literacy, 12 per cent of year 12 students study a foreign language and just three per cent of Australians study an Asian language at university.
CQU in Australia uses students as agents
Central Queensland University in Australia, which has campuses in Sydney, Melbourne and Rockhampton, has admitted it operates a student-based recruitment scheme for new enrolments, with existing international students offered incentives to recruit other international students from their home country.
CQU University Spokesperson, Mike Donahue, said this was a long-standing practice and the university ensured referred students met CQU admissions criteria and paid their fees before the recruiting student was reimbursed.
Incentives can extend to a return airfare and accommodation for two family members at graduation, if eight students are recruited into CQU. According to The Australian, CQU earns AUS$109 million (US$90.2 million) from international students – 44 per cent of its total funding. Critics said it was a “blurring of the boundaries” between student and education provider. Donahue said that agents did not like the scheme since it meant students could bypass an education agency and enrol directly.
EF University Preparation is born
EF Brittin Colleges – the university pathway division of EF – is to rebrand itself as EF University Preparation.
The EF Brittin chain operates several international campuses including three in the UK (London, Cambridge and Oxford), four in the USA (Boston, New York, Santa Barbara and San Francisco), one in Australia (Sydney) and one in Canada (Vancouver).
According to Jonas Jacobsson, Director of the Division, the new branding shows the company’s commitment to undergraduate and postgraduate study. “Over the past six years, EF Brittin College has become a leading provider of university pathway programmes in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia,” he said. “We’re changing the name to EF University Preparation to reflect our commitment of preparing students for the academic challenges of undergraduate and postgraduate studies.”
Jacobsson also related that successful EF graduates continue to secure university places at some of the world’s most prestigious institutions. “This year, our students have been accepted at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US, University of Cambridge, Imperial College London and the London School of Economics in the UK just to name a few. We look forward to continuing our relationship with our 150 partner universities worldwide and to keep placing students into top universities.”
EF University Preparation will also start offering University Foundation year at its Oxford campus in the UK as of January next year.
News in brief
Huge growth in independent schools
Student intake is buoyant in the international schools sector, and the number of actual schools has doubled in under 10 years, according to ISC Research, which surveys data across international schools worldwide. It reports 5,269 schools in 2009, compared with just 2,584 in 2000.
In its latest survey, the majority of international schools predicted steady enrolment rates for the 2009/2010 academic year, with those predicting declines heavily reliant on expatriate families with parents that work in large corporations. In fact, 70-to-80 per cent of all student intake is estimated to come from local families now, which explains the growth in school numbers. Future growth is expected to be especially strong in Asia.
Top universities by employee rank
French education institution, Mines Paris Tech, has disclosed that Japan’s University of Tokyo and Harvard University and Stanford University in the USA remain top of the league of universities by employee rank – that is to say, by assessing institutions based on the single criterion of number of graduates who hold the most senior post – chief executive or equivalent – in the leading 500 companies as classified by Fortune magazine.
NZ colleges scoop award
Mount Maunganui College and Awatapu College (both co-ed secondary schools in New Zealand) have been awarded the International Education Excellence award for excellence in student support. The annual awards ceremony, which takes place during the Education New Zealand conference, was held in August and looks to reward institutions for their acheivements in international education.
Other winners included Victoria University in Wellington which won for its Innovation in International Programme.
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