The number of visas approved for full fee paying international students in June was the highest in a government dataset that dates back a decade.
Full fee paying students are people who come to New Zealand to study and are charged the full cost of their studies by the institutions they are attending.
It includes younger students sent here to study at NZ schools and older students studying at tertiary institutions, although most are older students studying at universities.
Data from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment (MBIE), which incorporates Immigration NZ, shows 3501 visas were approved for full fee paying international students in June this year.
That's up 31% compared to June last year, and was the first time the number has topped 3500 in any month of the year in the MBIE dataset which goes back to 2016.
In total there were 39,738 full fee paying international students in NZ at the end of June. That's up 9.1% compared to June last year, with full fee paying students making up just under half (47%) the total number of foreign students in NZ at the end of June.
The second biggest group were the children of foreign workers on work visas.
If children of foreign workers are of school age they are legally required to attend school. But they receive what is commonly referred to as a free education because they only pay the normal school fees paid by NZ citizens and residents.
Their numbers have also shown significant growth, with 963 student visas approved for dependents of foreign workers in June this year, up 8% compared to June last year.
At the end of June there were a total of 34,518 children holding student visas in NZ who were dependents of foreign workers, also up 8% compared to the end of June last year.
Their numbers passed the 34,000 mark for the first time in March this year and have doubled since 2018.
The other major categories of student visas were those issued for English language studies with 825 approved in June, and those on Student Pathway visas, which are valid for five years and allow holders to work part time, with 417 approved in June.
The table below gives the main breakdowns of student visa numbers.
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3 Comments
A part of me thinks this is good, another is sceptical.
I've lamented the situation that another, disversifying string to march ag sector is yet to emerge.
The good element is that potentially NZ could become a learning Mecca for parts of the world. We are a pretty safe country in most aspects.
The sceptical element is around whether these students (and their families) will be financially milked, with education being just one more commodity on a least cost maximum profit basis that keepsthose payingthe bills from grumbling too loudly?Providing low quality education to get bums on seats (the students had great experience, pastoralcare was good, but educational outcomes ???). My recollection is that in the 90s, there was quite a lot of that going on. More babysitting than education. Will this current wave be same same?
For NZ to long term benefit, the education provided needs to be of a high standard and consistent across, both, institutions and curriculum. Which probably means raising the standards that currently exist for New Zealanders.
Are NZ education institutions up for developing and implementing such rigour? That's the nub of my scepticism.
Will it be the students getting milked, or will it be wealthy families utilising this this as a gateway to residency and eventually bringing their family over after using the future citizen to funnel their funds out of more stringent countries.
We remember only 50-10 years ago where there were classes nobody turned up to as they were using the vises to get to work in NZ and continue on to residency.
A possibility nonetheless given the international turmoil and relative security of NZ as a nation.
I notice no cultural break down or countries of origin. Too sensitive for interest.co.nz and now becoming like MSM?
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