EDUCATION’S BIG OE
Last year, the education sector’s biggest source of private funds began to dry up. For two decades, the sector had depended on an influx of more than 100,000 international students each year to help pay its bills.
When the borders closed, it looked as though that income would be wiped out. More than 1000 staff lost their jobs and some courses and private providers shut down. Parts of the sector have since bounced back better than expected, but the upheaval has nevertheless raised questions about the risks involved, and its sustainability.
The Government claims that, although overseas students bring enormous benefits, there are costs. It worries that if the sector faces another collapse in future, taxpayers might have to foot the bill. It also believes some international students see the opportunity to attend institutions in New Zealand “as a guaranteed path to residence”, adding fuel to the fire of the housing crisis and putting pressure on the labour market. A shake-up – which could even see the scheme scrapped for primary and intermediate schools, and new visa rules introduced – may be on the cards.
Others question whether we should be profiting from international education at all, given the many cases of poor-quality courses and student exploitation that some claim are putting our international reputation at risk.
THE COLOMBO PLAN
When foreign students first arrived here in the 1950s, they were actually paid to come and study. This was under the Colombo Plan, an international scheme developed to use education as a means to train the future leaders of the developing world and to spread capitalism and democracy to keep communism at bay.
“International business was a godsend, but the
