We just talk about the good stuff

Over 200 “gatherers” had an opportunity to analyse current trends, foster intercultural competencies and share best practices with peers at the g2 GlobalEd Gathering this month in Bangalore, India.

Attendees, comprising of university representatives, high-school counsellors and independent education consultants from 15 countries, participated in plenaries, workshops and networking events to debate the biggest challenges facing the international education sector.

“Whether you are a school counsellor, an IEC or a university representative, we make up a community in which we change lives and bend destinies,” Gen Next founder and CEO Girish Ballolla’s opening address.

“Access and equity are central to Gen Next’s mission and a core focus of g2,” he added. As such, Ballolla and his team coordinated a large-scale scholarship effort for the event.

“We make up a community in which we change lives and bend destinies”

“We are proud to offer scholarships to over 60 high school-based counsellors to make g2 accessible,” he told the PIE.

Blair McElroy, senior international officer and director of study abroad at University of Mississippi, discussed how universities can better capitalise on strengths and address weaknesses in their institutions, even at a departmental level.

Sharing her reflections about the conference, McElroy said, “By providing a space for genuine connections between educators along with useful, concrete tools and resources, Gen Next recognises the influence international educators have on students, from encouragement and support during high school to their academic and professional success at the university level and beyond.

“Ultimately, the next generation of thinkers, creators and global citizens will be the beneficiaries of the g2 experience,” she concluded.

Likewise, Moustafa Ezz, associate vice president of recruitment & international relations at Huron at Western University, spoke about the next generation of students as the ultimate recipients of the learning and networking that occurred at g2.

“The future success and happiness of the next generation is an immense social responsibility in which school counsellors play a fundamental role.”

Ezz added that being part of a globally engaged university with a student-centric approach to admissions and learning “is the best way to empower students begins with ensuring their counsellors are always supported with their professional and community needs”.

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China’s slowing economy might well have an impact on students’ appetite for study abroad, but it “won’t necessarily be significant”, according to experts. 

Recently, China has seen a slump in its economy, with forecasts saying the country is likely to miss its 5% GDP growth margin for the year. 

Youth unemployment rates are also soaring – in June, 16 to 24 year olds in urban areas saw recent unemployment rates of 21.3% – and data released on August 15 show overall employment has risen to over 5.3%. China has also announced that it will suspend further updates to unemployment figures until further notice.

This also comes as graduates, struggling to find work in other countries, are reportedly going back to attempt to find a job at home, despite the worrying figures. 

“While there can be no doubt that China is experiencing economic challenges, China’s new normal of 5% projected GDP growth is still exceptional in a global context in terms of scale,” Isabel Xu, director of education at China-Britain Business Council pointed out, speaking with The PIE. 

She went on to say that while data from more immediate UKVI and HESA would be “interesting to see”, the CBBC isn’t seeing a diminishing level of interest in study abroad – specifically to the UK. 

“While there has been significant pent-up savings which is a positive sign for China’s consumer economy, the pandemic has also caused hardship within the urban middle classes with the strain felt on businesses of all sizes. 

“The current economic situation is arguably influencing households to invest in education over property and other consumer products. Families are saving for the future of which education is a key consideration,” Xu explained – a property slump is also accompanying the general economic uncertainty. 

“There could be an impact on students’ appetite for studying abroad… but it is not necessarily significant,” agreed Grace Zhu, China branch director at BONARD.

She told The PIE that the choice to study abroad is often a “long-term decision”, so families, as Xu pointed out, will be making “careful preparations” for such expenses financially. 

In terms of where these students want to go, there have been reports that increasing amounts of students may prefer to stay more local – due to a variety of reasons, including geopolitical factors and costs. 

“There has been a trend of Chinese students going to study in closer destinations such as Singapore,” said Richard Coward, CEO of the China Admissions agency. 

“The Chinese government is likely to continue prioritising measures to make education more accessible”

“We are also seeing the trend of more overseas Chinese students going to study in China,” he said to The PIE. 

Xu said that while these trends are happening, the numbers are small enough that major destinations like the US and UK needn’t worry about major decreases in their intake numbers from China – at least due to fluctuation in the economy. 

She referred to BONARD’s research confirming that English-speaking countries were indeed still the top preferred destinations for Chinese students. However, as Coward mentioned, other factors such as improved courses in more local destinations will attract certain students. 

The National University of Singapore, for example, broke into the top 10 for the first time in the latest QS rankings, rising to eighth position after spending three years at the 11th spot. 

More than half of new entrants in the 2024 rankings came from across the continent, including five in Malaysia and 10 in Indonesia.  

Chinese graduates returning to the country despite a difficult job market, while “indeed challenging”, is still becoming a popular choice, Zhu continued.

In 2022, almost half of Chinese graduates abroad chose to return home within six months of their course ending. Stakeholders say this could be down to a post-pandemic “mindset shift” among students who now want a familiar environment after studying abroad.

One job recruitment platform in China conducted recent research that said there was an 8.6% year-on-year growth in students returning to China for employment in 2022, according to Zhu.

Inbound growth for China at its institutions, however, remains a challenge. 

“You may draw a parallel here with executives coming to China from overseas. The pandemic has significantly impacted international student flows into China and Chinese universities – and the market is yet to recover confidence,” Xu said. 

“Both the economy and geopolitics coupled with logistical factors such as lack of flight capacity continue to impact,” she added. The Civil Aviation Administration of China projects that 70-80% of 2019 capacity will be reached by the end of 2023, with further growth assumed in 2024.

“The current economic situation is arguably influencing households to invest in education over property”

Coward said that the first new wave of students is now finally beginning to come into China after the pandemic, so it might be too early to tell the true impact of economic factors – he’s “keeping an open mind” regarding numbers.

Zhu argued that the economic situation will not really put off students choosing to study in China. Universities often offer financial assistance, and there are various programs aimed at encouraging them to choose the country as a study destination. 

“Consequently, the Chinese government is likely to continue prioritising measures to make education more accessible and affordable for international students, including the provision of scholarships and other forms of financial assistance.

“The industry should maintain confidence in the market and enhance its publicity efforts,” Zhu added.

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A long-awaited five-year plan to help boost the amount of international higher education students in South Korea has been unveiled by the country’s education minister.

In a press conference on August 16, Lee Ju-Ho announced the plan to attract 300,000 international students to the country by 2027 in the wake of its ageing population crisis, which has resulted in a “rapid decline” in the number of school-age citizens.

Earlier this year, statistics showed that 205,167 international students were enrolled in institutions across the country by March 2023.

The plan includes an increase in the quota of government scholarships, which will primarily be aimed at universities outside of larger urban areas and those with STEM programs.

Some 2,700 will be allocated exclusively for science students, while up to 6,000 will be available for non-science subjects.

Study Korea 300K project, as it’s been named, will also see the Study in Korea – or GKS – country quotas increase for India, the US, Pakistan, Poland and the UAE.

The government will also establish ​​international student service centres at overseas education centres to encourage Korean study, but did not mention where there would be located.

A current restriction that more than 30% of first year international students must have the TOPIK (test of proficiency in Korean) levels two or three is under “consideration to be lifted”, it added. This has however not been assigned a timeline but the exam itself will also become available online.

Benjamin A. Engel, who works as a professor at the institute of international affairs at Seoul National University, commented on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that only 13% of courses were in English in South Korean institutions in 2022.

“If Korea wants more international students, it needs more courses taught in English,” Engel insisted.

“Korea has a great education system… but forcing people to learn Korean to get an education here is not going to boost numbers. Making Korean universities more accessible by having more courses taught in English will,” he noted.

Korea Development Institute associate professor Josh Merfeld also said a “lot of changes were going to need to happen” if the plan was to be successful.

He agreed with Engel’s assessment that there is a need for more English-taught degrees, as well as an improved quality of research and the need to hire more non-Korean faculty.

Lee said that a new scheme as part of the plan would attempt to establish a new fast-track visa system for science and tech graduates.

“Now is the time to attract foreign talent strategically”

The minister also detailed that students with a master’s or PhD in science and technology will be able to apply for Korean citizenship and receive permanent resident status after three years in-country, halving the previous amount of time.

“We are in desperate need of nurturing [science] talent at a time when the war for technological supremacy is intensifying.

“Japan, for example, has set a target of attracting 400,000 foreign students by 2033. Now is the time to attract foreign talent strategically,” Lee told the media at the press conference in Seoul.

The recent governmental trilateral plan discussed between Korea, the US and Japan also surfaced in the press conference.

Lee said such cooperation as an example could “pave the way for more diverse youth exchanges and study abroad programs that could improve students’ intellectuality”.

Another strand looking to strengthen the attractiveness of non-urban areas will see the government “collaborate with administrations” in regions. Certain zones will be named “Global talent focused Special Zones for the Internationalisation of Education”.

On top of the scholarship plans, $60.4m is being allocated to help universities with graduate school “support projects” to improve academic climate and “capacity to respond to societal change”. The exact meaning of this was not expanded upon, but the projects generally aim to enhance international student experiences on campus.

It comes after some facets of the plan were released in July and was originally thought to have been dubbed Study Korea 3.0.

It included new increased work hours for foreign students, with the plan reportedly delayed details were finalised.

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An open letter urging the UK Home Office to act promptly on the case of a detained international student accused of breaching visa conditions has reached 1,241 signatures.

University of Stirling student Muhammad Rauf Waris, from Pakistan, is being held at Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre in South Lanarkshire, Scotland where he has been for over seven weeks.

The postgraduate student is accused of working more than the legal limit for international students of 20 hours and has therefore had his visa cancelled.

He has spoken of his declining mental health and wellbeing since being detained.

“I don’t want even my worst enemy to face this kind of mental torture that I am facing at the moment, as my health is very bad since I have been here,” the student is reported by The National to have said.

“I can’t eat anything and whatever I am eating, I am vomiting next minute. I am mentally down and out, and I am not the only one – my family is suffering because of this unlawful detention.”

My family is suffering because of this unlawful detention

Four student and human rights advocacy groups – Amnesty at University of Stirling, Student Action for Refugees Stirling, NUS Scotland and No Evictions Network – jointly released an open letter urging the Home Office to make a decision on the case promptly, which they have invited the public to sign.

Urging the Home Office not to prolong “the deprivation of the student’s liberty which has proven to have detrimental effects on him”, the letter has so far garnered 1,241 signatures.

The letter states that the student has asserted that he was following his visa requirements, attending all of his classes, and completing all of his assignments.

“The Court denied his application for bail, leaving him in Dungavel awaiting a decision on whether his case can be judicially reviewed,” it continued.

We stand in full solidarity and hope to welcome him back in our community at the University of Stirling as soon as possible!

Please sign our open letter here: https://t.co/ywrEZSSH53 pic.twitter.com/8jufFgWoIB

— University of Stirling Amnesty (@stiruniamnesty) August 13, 2023

“Indefinite detention is cruel and unfair” read an image shared by Amnesty at Stirling University.

“Indefinite detention is cruel and unfair”

The groups have become “increasingly worried” about the student, they said, specifically regarding his health, and are “appalled” by the way the case has been handled.

“Despite having provided the Home Office with evidence to support that he was following the conditions of his visa over a month ago, they are yet to review his case,” it continued.

The PIE approached the Home Office for comment, which said it would not comment on individual cases.

Instead, in a statement, it said “illegal working causes untold harm to our communities, cheating honest workers out of employment, putting vulnerable people at risk, and defrauding the public purse”.

“The government is tackling illegal immigration and the harm it causes by removing those with no right to be in the UK,” it continued.

Earlier this year, the UK government said it was considering increasing the number of hours international students can work during their studies in a bid to fill job vacancies across the country.

Although the Home Office stated it does not comment on individual cases, according to The National, a source in the department said authorities had “credible evidence” the student had breached the terms of his visa.

The PIE also reached out to the University of Stirling for comment.

“While the university cannot comment on individuals, we can confirm that we are aware of this case and are in touch with the student’s legal representatives,” a spokesperson for the university said.

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A post-secondary institution in Alberta, Canada, has announced that Ukrainians on special emergency travel visas will be eligible for domestic tuition rates.

Keyano College has said it wants to continue supporting students who have fled the war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian students with a valid Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel visa and study permit will be eligible for the post-secondary study offer.

“I believe that offering Ukrainian students domestic tuition is a transformative step towards their integration and educational development,” said Laura Herweck, manager of enrollment services at Keyano College.

“This program reinforces our values of solidarity and inclusion, and we hope to provide some stability during uncertain times.”

“We hope to provide some stability during uncertain times”

The CUAET government program allows Ukrainians to access study permits valid for up to three years, which Keyano says is adequate time for students to complete their programs from start to finish.

It added that on graduation, students may be eligible for permanent residency under specific provincial and federal immigration programs.

Canada has backed Ukraine through a number of initiatives since the beginning of Putin’s invasion of the country.

As well as the CUAET, the government offered funding of $3,000 per person for adults and $1,500 for children aged under 17 years in June 2022.

At the onset of the invasion in February last year, the Canadian Bureau for International Education noted that its 140+ members stood “in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and unequivocally supports their right to live in peace and to freely choose their future within their own independent and indivisible country”.

The support for the country’s democratic evolution over 30 years, as well as the deep connections forged between Canada and Ukraine through international education would “be maintained”, CBIE said.

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Some 79% of UK school leavers have gained a place at their chosen university or college, while the total number of international students accepted has dropped by 2% as this year’s A-level results are released.

It follows concerns that domestic students could be overlooked by universities, especially Russell Group institutions, in favour of international applicants who pay higher tuition fees.

“We just do not see that,” said UCAS chief executive Clare Marchant, speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today program.

“In fact, international placed applicants at this point look a couple of percentage points down on last year.

“Obviously that picture will change as we go through the rest of clearing, which runs all the way through to mid-October, but we’re just not seeing some of that story play out.”

In total, 51,210 international students have been accepted via UCAS, which handles undergraduate admission for UK universities, compared to 52,440 last year (-2.3%).

The top three countries with placed applicants are China (11,630 acceptances in 2023 vs 13,180 in 2022), India (4,780 vs 4,050) and Hong Kong (3,050 vs 3,420).

Viviene Stern, CEO of Universities UK, said it was notable that international students numbers were similar to last year and down from 2019 “knocking down the narrative that domestic students are in some way losing out”.

UK education secretary Gillian Keegan also rejected these claims, pointing out that most international students are applying at postgraduate level and that undergraduate proportions have remained “pretty steady”.

Marchant had previously suggested that the 13% of placed students being international was unlikely to “change hugely” in 2023.

“International education is something we’re really good at”

Keegan added that the country welcomes international students who “offer a great deal” to home students.

“International education is something we’re really good at in this country, it’s one of our biggest exports.

“I think it’s close to making about £30 billion for our economy and it’s also a real part of our global influence and soft power.

“But it’s largely taking place at postgraduate level in terms of the numbers of students.”

The 79% domestic acceptance rate is down on 2022 figures, when 81% of UK students earned places at their first choice institutions, but up on 2019 data, when 74% did so.

This is the first year since 2019 that students in England have not benefitted from grade-inflation as a response to the pandemic.

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Australian institutions have hit back at proposals to introduce a levy on international student fee income. 

The idea was initially suggested in the Universities Accord interim report, released in July, as a way to protect against future economic shocks and tackle some of the sector’s funding shortfalls. 

But organisations representing Australian institutions have criticised the proposal, comparing it to a tax on the sector. 

“Imposing a levy on international students burdens international students financially and diminishes the attractiveness of Australia as a destination of choice,” said Troy Williams, chief executive of ITECA, which has recently announced a new higher education division.  

“As one ITECA member said, if this levy looks like a tax and smells like a tax, let’s call it what it is … an international student tax,” he added. 

The report suggested the money raised could be invested in research, where government funding has fallen in recent years. 

But sector representatives argued that the problem of research funding should be tackled directly instead of relying on international students.

Writing on LinkedIn, Vicki Thomson, chief executive of the Group of Eight, said the focus should be on “addressing the underlying issue of research funding, not grasping at revenue raising measures which are in effect a tax on ourselves”. 

“I don’t think we can subcontract the investment in research to international students”

“The underlying problem is the distorted funding model we have in this nation whereby the national university research effort – 70 percent of which occurs in The Group of Eight – is underwritten by international fee income and that is simply neither acceptable nor sustainable,” she wrote.  

Peter Varghese, chancellor of the University of Queensland chancellor, said the proposed levy “fundamentally deepens the challenge we’ve got rather than resolves the challenge we’ve got”. 

“I don’t think we can subcontract the investment in research to international students, which is essentially what a tax on international students would be and would certainly appear to be.” 

Stakeholders are invited to respond to the interim report before September 1 2023.

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The 2023 Academic Ranking of World Universities has been unveiled with eight of the top 10 positions filled by US institutions, however the country’s performance has been decreasing over the last 20 years.

Harvard University was hailed as the best performing higher education institution for the 21st consecutive year, followed by Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The UK’s Cambridge and Oxford were positioned fourth and seventh, respectively.

More than 2,500 universities are ranked by ARWU each year and the best 1,000 are published in the list, also known as the Shanghai Rankings.

The annual ranking evaluates HEIs based on six criteria, including the number of Nobel prizes and Fields Medals, the number of highly cited researchers and the number of papers published in Nature and Science.

Many institutions have taken to social media to celebrate making the list, including Israel’s Weizmann Institute.

“Even in those complicated times for the Israeli academia, the Weizmann Institute has jumped up in the Shanghai Rankings from the 83rd place last year to the 67th place this year—another reason to be proud!”

HESA president Alex Usher highlighted that the number of places in the top 100 held by US institutions has significantly dropped since the inceptive edition of the rankings in 2003.

Number of places in the @ShanghaiRanking top 100 over time, by country. I’m pretty sure the 2003 ranking was too kind to the Americans, but that’s still a hell of a drop over 20 years. And yes China has gone from 0 to 10 places in the last decade. pic.twitter.com/TdMM98L44q

— Alex Usher (@AlexUsherHESA) August 15, 2023

In this year’s rankings, China has 214 universities in the top 1,000 list, compared to 146 five years ago. Notably, in the last decade, China has gone from zero to 10 places in the top 100. This does not include the University of Hong Kong which the ranking also lists as Chinese institution, ranked at 87.

Beijing’s Tsinghua University was ranked the top Asian institution at position 22.

“Europe, despite all the palaver about excellence initiatives, etc, has barely moved,” added Usher.

“Europe, despite all the palaver about excellence initiatives, etc, has barely moved”

“There is a middle-tier of countries with a solid core of top research unis whose rankings don’t move around very much each year: Germany, Canada, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland.”

Overall, Spanish institutions positioned lower in the rankings. Last year, 40 institutions appeared in the list, with 38 this year. Some 19 of those have fallen places, 2 have risen and 19 have remained in the same spot.

One professor at the University of Granada, which placed in the 201-300 rank category, wonders where the institution would place with a budget similar to one of the largest institutions.

The highest EU university in the list is France’s Université Paris-Saclay ranked at 15.

“Our university has proven that its model is robust and recognised internationally,” said Estelle Iacona, president of Université Paris-Saclay.

“Our graduates can take pride in the national and international appreciation of their degrees and the laboratories which we supervise and jointly supervise can also enjoy the benefits of this recognition.”

Some stakeholders have questioned the ranking’s criteria, which is based on research quality and reputation.

“These rankings are a bit too one-dimensional,” wrote David Arnoux, co-CEO and co-founder of Growth Tribe, in a LinkedIn post.

He highlighted that although top spots are dominated by “pricier American institutions”, he questions if the universities were ranked on value for money, would they remain in their peak positions.

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Over 40,000 British students will receive funding from the government to study abroad over the next year, but institutions say problems persist with the UK’s Turing scheme. 

The Turing Scheme was introduced in 2021 in the wake of Brexit. Now on its third funding round, student mobility staff say the program is failing to live up to the EU’s Erasmus+ exchange program as they navigate challenges with payouts, funding timelines and a lack of transparency. 

“The way that funding is allocated doesn’t really take into context the way mobility works at the ground level,” said Rohan McCarthy-Gill, head of global mobility at the University of Sussex and chair of the British Universities Transnational Exchange group. 

Under Erasmus+, universities received a pot of funding upfront to allocate as they saw fit over several years. Now, institutions must bid for funding for the upcoming academic year and Turing decides which programs will receive money. 

“Some institutions have received more this year than last… whereas some institutions have received less,” said James Illingworth, chair of the year abroad special interest group at the University Council for Modern Languages. “The situation is therefore quite varied from institution to institution.”

Turing uses external assessors to evaluate funding bids against the scheme’s objectives. The assessment criteria includes questions around how projects will encourage new global relationships, how they will support disadvantaged learners and how they deliver value for money.

But institutions say it is unclear how funding is allocated, meaning they don’t know what to expect or how to improve their applications in future. 

“We would prefer to have more agency in deciding how that money gets spent”

“Generally speaking, there seems to be a tendency to privilege placements that are unpaid (i.e. not paid work placements) and/or placements for students with lower household incomes (in keeping with Turing’s widening participation ethos),” Illingworth wrote in an email to The PIE News. 

“There’s no direct nexus between what we’ve asked for and what we get,” said McCarthy-Gill, adding that Turing effectively dictates which programs students can participate in. 

“We would prefer to have more agency in deciding how that money gets spent,” he said.

This year, 150 higher education institutions applied for Turing funding, compared to 211 further education and VET institutions, and 159 schools. Of these, 61% received funding, although institutions generally report receiving less than they bid for. 

Universities were awarded £62 million in Turing funding, making up the the bulk of the £106 million awarded in total. A further £36 million went to the FE/VET sector and £7 million to schools.

But this was a smaller share of the funding than in 2022/23 when higher education institutions received £67 million of the £98 million available. The number of applications from all sectors went up in 2023/24. 

Charley Robinson, head of global mobility policy at Universities UK International, said the scheme has been “so successful” that it is “heavily oversubscribed by universities”.

“We have seen increased engagement across the whole of the education sector, and as such, we are keen to see the funding allocation increased in future so that more students can benefit from a Turing placement,” Robinson added.

Unless institutions dig into their own coffers to fund mobility, students are being warned to prepare to pay for their own exchanges. What’s more, many students are only finding out if they will receive funding a few weeks before they are due to head abroad. 

“Institutions were once again only told how much funding they would receive last month, which means most students, in modern languages at least, have been told to plan their year abroad as if they have no funding, as this could not be guaranteed until very late in the process,” said Illingworth. 

Robinson said, “We would like to see the scheme move away from a 12-month model to a two, or three-year model in the future, working around students’ planning and decision timelines.

“This would give students security early on knowing the funding is there to support them, and help universities innovate in the variety of opportunities available to students.”

The government has only confirmed that the scheme will run until 2024/25, meaning that school students considering going to university in the next few years may not have access to exchange funding when they arrive. 

Last year, payment delays also meant some universities were forced to underwrite the funding for students until it came through.

“For a university without a cashflow problem, you can do that at least because you’ve got a contractual agreement that the money needs to be paid, but for universities that are smaller… that’s not a good state of affairs,” said McCarthy-Gill, describing the operationalisation of the Turing Scheme as “woeful”.  

When bidding for funding, institutions are asked to provide specific details around start dates, end dates and participant numbers. These can often only be finalised late into the process, particularly for short-term mobility programs like summer schools. 

“We’re being asked for information sometimes that we don’t yet have,” said Rohan. If things do change, it can be difficult to update the details. 

“The change process is quite time consuming and cumbersome, there are no certainties around it. Often you’re having to kind of gamble that changes will be accepted and hope for the best.”

Where universities believe Turing has been somewhat successful is in its focus on widening participation. This year, nearly two-thirds of students due to receive funding are classified as “disadvantaged”, up from 51% last year. 

“The Turing Scheme has moved from being a primarily European program to a newly global one, and has dramatically increased participation for students from less advantaged backgrounds,” said Robinson.

Robert Halfon, minister for skills, apprenticeships and higher education, described the scheme as “driving social mobility”. 

But, as McCarthy-Gill pointed out, without enough funding to go round, universities end up having to decide who is more disadvantaged.

Three years since the launch of Turing, institutions and membership bodies continue to advocate for changes to the system, but doing so is yielding few results.

“In three years, I don’t think they’ve taken any major request from the sector on board,” said McCarthy-Gill. 

“We’ve just got to explain to the students that it’s an imperfect funding scheme and that we’re limited in our ability to change elements of it.”

A department for education spokesperson said, “This year, over 40,000 pupils, learners, and students across the UK will get the chance to study and work in over 160 destinations across the globe, with 60% of these opportunities for participants from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“Young people taking part will benefit from inspirational placements that will build the confidence they need for their future, whilst bolstering the government’s ambition for a Global Britain.”

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New Zealand is looking to China as its international education sector continues to recover from the pandemic, with China’s minister of education set to visit this week.

Huai Jinpeng will visit Wellington and Christchurch, as well as New Zealand’s flagship New Zealand International Education Conference Ki Tua. China will be this year’s country of honour at the event.

“Education is one of the key pillars of the New Zealand-China relationship and a foundation for enduring links between our countries,” New Zealand’s education minister Jan Tinetti said in a statement.

Tinetti will meet with Jinpeng to discuss “ongoing opportunities” in the countries’ education relationship.

As the largest source country of international students for New Zealand – with almost 12,000 currently studying in the country – the visit “is a great chance for us to share stories about everything studying with New Zealand has to offer”, the NZ minister said.

“Education is one of the key pillars of the New Zealand-China relationship”

“I am pleased that minister Huai will have the opportunity during his visit, and attendance at our international education conference, to engage with a range of senior government officials, sector representatives, academics and students,” Tinetti said.

During the visit, an Education Cooperation Arrangement between Education New Zealand and China Education Association for International Exchange is planned to be signed at the 11th Joint Working Group on Education and Training.

At previous working group meetings, agreements on qualification recognition and information sharing were made. The new arrangement will support greater education exchange and collaboration between the education sectors of New Zealand and China, according to the NZ government.

Earlier this year, Tinetti revealed that two of eight group scholarships for Asia 2023/2024 under the Prime Minister’s Scholarship program would go to China.

Funding will support a six-week Ropu Māori Cultural and Business Exchange in China, while a six-week entrepreneurship and innovation program for students at vocational provider Te Pūkenga – New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology will see them travel to Jinhua Polytechnic in China.

In June, NZ prime minister Chris Hipkins met with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping on a trip to the country.

Along with collaborating to ensure the success of an upgraded China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, the two leaders agreed to strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges and cooperation in several fields including education, science and technology.

On his return to New Zealand, Hipkins said that it was “important” to reaffirm the economic connections the country has with China –  a trading relationship is worth over $40 billion annually.

“Tourism between our countries was high on the agenda, with air connectivity beginning to return to pre-pandemic levels, we are seeing the return of businesspeople, students and tourists helping to boost our economic recovery,” Hipkins said.

“With borders now open our service exports, like tourism and international education, are recovering.”

Tinetti added that Hipkins’s visit to China “underlined the importance of the education relationship, which is built on student exchange, academic and research collaboration and high-level policy dialogue”.

“I am delighted that minister Huai is here so soon after the Prime Minister’s visit,” Tinetti said.

“This visit provides an opportunity for further reconnection and the fostering of people-to-people links between our two countries.”

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