Connect these dots. One:
Foreign students turned off by NZ
Labour blames dodgy education providers and agents for drop in fee-paying customers from abroad.
Immigration “hiccups”, dodgy education providers and unscrupulous student agents are damaging New Zealand’s export education reputation, says Labour export education spokesman Raymond Huo. Mr Huo said fewer international students were choosing to study here because New Zealand had an image as being a destination for “ghetto education”. …
The annual Migration Trends and Outlook, released last Friday, reported a 7 per cent drop in international student approvals to 68,980 – the lowest since 2008. The number of first-time student visa approvals had also dropped about 25 per cent since 2009. …
Mr Huo said overseas agents promoting student visas for other immigration purposes and Immigration’s mistake in approving hundreds of Chinese applicants with fraudulent documents last year had given New Zealand a bad name.
“A number of private training establishments have abused their naming rights and have created a credibility issue for New Zealand’s export education system with the term ghetto education being used in China and other countries to describe the state of facilities here.”
Profit-driven private sector cowboys are damaging the reputation of our education system. Which brings us to – Two:
New opportunities for foreign corporates to profit from kids
The National/Act Government has just laid out the welcome mat for large foreign owned corporations to receive huge tax payer subsidies to run profit-making schools in New Zealand, with potential to take over large parts of the education system in the future, the Green Party said today.
Two clarifications released this morning by the Governments’ tendering website GETS confirm that 100 per cent foreign owned corporations can apply to run charter schools immediately, and promises more opportunities for them to set up taxpayer-funded corporate schools in the future.
“New Zealand has one of the best public school systems in the world and we will protect the right of every kiwi child to a high quality, free public education at their local school,” Green Party Co-leader and education spokesperson Metiria Turei said.
“New Zealanders will be shocked to learn that large entirely foreign owned corporates have been invited to apply for significant taxpayer subsidies to expand into our public education system, not just now but in the future.
“Funding agreements already published show the taxpayer could pay more than $1 million to establish a charter school, and then much more than $1 million each year to run them.
“This is privatisation of our education system at its most extreme. …
Yeah this is going to end well.
(With all due respect to honest and good private sector institutions of course. Also, disclosure, the author works for a boring old public sector university.)
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