Rebuilding international education

The Government has released a long-term strategic recovery plan, backed by a $51.6 million investment from the COVID recovery and response fund to help reset New Zealand’s international education sector.

The recovery plan spans four years, with a $51.6 million three year investment earmarked for the international education sectors recovery as an initial response.

There are three phases of the recovery plan which will run concurrently and include stabilising the international education sector, strengthening the system by ensuring the regulatory settings, policies and practices to support the recovery and rebuild, and accelerating the transformation of the sector signalled in the International Education Strategy(external link) launched in 2018.

To stabilise the international education system, the investment over three years is as follows:

  • $20 million in support for state and state-integrated schools for the remainder of 2020 to continue to employ the specialist international workforce to continue teaching and providing pastoral care to international students who remain in New Zealand.
  • $10 million for Private Training Establishments (PTEs) including English language schools to buffer the sharp decline in revenue and maintain a foundation of PTEs for the recovery phase.
  • $10 million to develop new future-focused products and services to drive growth in our system onshore and offshore, to ensure a more resilient sector. This will include:
    • Allowing students to begin studying from their home country to provide greater flexibility for learners and make our international education sector more resilient to shocks such as COVID-19.     
    • A unified digital platform to provide a single strong New Zealand brand and presence to enable providers to deliver study programmes to more people offshore.
  • $6.6 million to continue the pastoral care and other activities for international students, subject to the proposed cancellation of the Export Education Levy until the end of 2021.
  • $3 million for marketing activities to keep New Zealand’s education brand visible in key markets while travel is restricted. 
  • $1.5 million for English Language Schools to deliver English language training to migrants to help them to succeed in our schools and communities. 
  • $500k to develop a quality assurance process to ensure the ongoing quality of a New Zealand education being delivered offshore.

COVID-19 - Te Mahau(external link)

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