Schools call on the Government to provide timeline for international students return

Tuesday, 21 September 2021

Scots College headmaster Graeme Yule said the international school sector was in jeopardy without a clear plan from the Government for international student return.

High schools are calling on the Government to provide a timeline to welcome back overseas students, with one principal saying the international education sector could “die” without a plan for their return.

New Zealand had 14,000 full-time international school students pre-Covid. That number has dropped to 5000 in 2021, according to The Schools International Education Association (SIEBA.)

Millions of dollars had been lost in the sector due to the pandemic, SIEBA executive director John van der Zwan said.

Newlands College deputy principal Deb Mills with international students John Zhang, Harry Vu and Daisy Quach. Mills said the school was ready and waiting for a plan from the Government for when international students could return.

International students who have spent lockdown at the Craighead Diocesan School hostel in Timaru have been enjoying their new families (video first published on August 31.)

Scots College headmaster Graeme Yule said their school had lost about $2.5 million in tuition and boarding fees without new international students.

* Schools 'hurtling toward cliff edge' due to lack of international students

* International PhD and postgraduate students granted exemption to enter New Zealand

Scots College proposed for its boarding house to be used as a private managed isolation facility for international students to come back to the country, but the Government did not accept it, he said.

The college in Wellington usually took 80 students, dropping to 35 students after Covid-19 hit.

“I think what everyone is looking for is some sort of decision, plan or indication as to when we might be able to welcome students back,” Yule said.

“International education in schools will never be the same as it was,” Burnside High School principal Phil Holstein said.

“The international school sector has huge benefits to the economy.

“It’s an industry that is going to die if we can’t get the students into the country at some stage,” Yule said.

In 2020, Scots College had proposed for its 130-bed boarding house to be shared with Wellington College students as a private managed isolation facility for international students.

The message Yule received back was that the Government did not want to create private MIQ arrangements.

In the meantime, Scots College had set up an online school for 30 students studying from afar, who were “sitting in a waiting room”.

Newlands College deputy principal and international student director Deb Mills said the high school had a two-third cut in the numbers of their international students.

“They are not just going to sit there and wait, they are starting to go to Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom.”

Christchurch’s Burnside High School principal Phil Holstein had a drop from about 220 international students to 90 students in 2021, and is expecting 50 in 2022.

The school had lost over $1 million due to a lack of international students.

“International education in schools will never be the same as it was…this is not just about the borders reopening,” Holstein said.

A whole new strategy was being developed by SIEBA and the Government for how international school students will come back to the country – and there may be a greater focus on longer term international students.

Schools around the country have reported how the lack of international students could jeopardise staffing in international departments or in the range of subjects offered.

National education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith criticised the Government for not seriously considering proposals by some high schools to provide managed isolation for international students.

Newlands College deputy principal and international student director Deb Mills said experienced staff were “invaluable”.

“A homestay counsellor, they are the ones who have that rapport and relationship with existing homestays. If they go, it gets very hard.”

Mills said Newlands College was in a good position – and could keep their homestay counsellor, homestay administrator and international dean on.

“If this goes on for much longer how can we keep them, that is the question.”

Education Minister Chris Hipkins could not provide a timeframe for when international school students could be let back in the country.

In late December 2020 the Secondary Principals’ Association and SIEBA conducted a survey where 147 New Zealand primary, intermediate, and secondary schools reported they could cut up to 764 full time jobs due to closed borders.

It was difficult to quantify how many of these jobs were lost, van der Zwan said.

“We know from the people we engage with that there are still people losing their jobs now.”

In January, the Government allowed 1000 tertiary education students into the country, but international school students have not been provided an exemption in 2021.

Creating exemptions for international school students – akin to RSE workers – had not been prioritised because it meant minors would have to isolate for fourteen days by themselves, van der Zwan said.

National’s education spokesperson Paul Goldsmith said the Government should be setting a timeframe for allowing students back in, but vaccination rates had to increase and the health system be prepared.

“The sector has been coming up with proposals for managing students coming in next year and isolating them with their own accommodation, and my understanding is the Government hasn’t paid any attention or interest to any of that.”

But Education Minister Chris Hipkins said the Government “seriously considered” options for school facilities like boarding houses, but the numbers of health and security staff were too limited.

Hipkins could not provide a timeframe for when international school students could be let back in the country.

There were no plans to extend a border exemption – such as the one applying to RSE workers – to international students right now, he said.

RSE workers came from countries with no Covid-19 and through direct flights, Hipkins said.

But the Government was looking options, such as vaccine passports, and for eventually allowing people back into the country once vaccination rates had increased – some people could potentially isolate at home if they could demonstrate they were fully vaccinated.

“I am extremely mindful that the return of international student is critical to the recovery of the international education sector and can confirm that the Government supports the continued safe return of international students to New Zealand.”