Export education package pure cosmetics

new-zealand-national-party

Wed May 12 2004 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Export education package pure cosmetics

Wednesday, 12 May 2004, 9:00 am
Press Release: New Zealand National Party

Proposed changes to the export education sector are purely cosmetic and will do nothing to restore the damage that this Government has done, says National's Asian Relationships spokeswoman Pansy Wong. She is commenting on a multimillion-dollar cash injection into the sector, announced today ahead of Education Minister Trevor Mallard's trip to China, Korea and South East Asia to lift New Zealand as a world-class study destination.

Mrs Wong says the cash injection and the trip are too late.

"It can't repair the damage caused by the Government's lack of action with rogue foreign students, and monitoring of educational institutions.

"The Minister, on his last trip to China only eight months ago, assured officials the Government was taking a number of steps to improve our export education sector.

"However, that trip didn't improve our reputation.

Mrs Wong says evidence of that can be found on an official Chinese website 'Monitor of Overseas Education Information' where New Zealand appears under a warning. The Chinese website, http://www.jsj.edu.cn, says '...Right now there are many problems concerning Chinese students in New Zealand such as: tensions between students and schools or home stays, traffic accidents, fighting, some have been drawn to sexual pursuits, gambling, drugs, triads, fraud, kidnapping and murder...'.

Mrs Wong says to bolster New Zealand's reputation the Minister needs to deal with the problem. He needs to ensure educational institutes are properly accredited and monitored; require overseas students to drive with a New Zealand licence, and remove students whose visa's have expired and have no valid reason to be here.

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Attached: Translation of Chinese website http://www.jsj.edu.cn

Partial Translation on information relating to New Zealand from the Monitor of Overseas Education Information website. (www.jsj.edu.cn)

By Pansy Wong, M.P 10 May 2004

Education Department's report on irregularities relating to overseas education reminds individuals to exercise informed choices to avoid being cheated.

5. For sometime now, fee-paying students to New Zealand from our country has increased rapidly, the numbers reached over 30,000 by the end of 2002. Due to the limited number of proper higher education institutions, the current education, transport and social security (facilities) are not ready to cater for the large number of overseas students. Our fee-paying students tend to be of (a) younger age, not worldly, lack of ability to protect oneself. Right now there are many problems concerning Chinese students in New Zealand such as: tensions between students and schools or home stays, traffic accidents, fighting, some have been drawn to sexual pursuits, gambling, drugs, triads, fraud, kidnapping and murder. According to (an) unofficial statistic, fatal car accidents and robberies have reached over 20 in the first of 2003. Even now there are agents who engage in misleading advertising.

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