NZSTA urges responsibility to int. students

NZSTA urges responsibility to international students

All organisations hosting international students must deliver on their promises – otherwise the whole education sector will be tarred by the same brush, the New Zealand School Trustees Association says.

In the week leading up to the annual NZSTA conference, President Chris France is calling on all education providers to ensure international students are getting a quality education and an appropriate and safe level of care outside of school hours.

The trends and challenges of international education is one of the topics on the conference agenda and Chris France’s comments follow several issues related to the care of students at private training establishments, which gained high public profile both in New Zealand and, potentially, internationally.

The government has announced a revised code of practice for the foreign student industry, which is worth about $1.7 billion a year.

The proposed crackdown would require schools to know where their students were living and take greater responsibility for their safety.

NZSTA welcomes the Ministry of Education’s revised draft Code of Practice for the Pastoral Care of International Students, which sets new minimum standards and establishes a complaints procedure.

He says that secondary schools have an excellent reputation over the quality of education and care they offer international students and it is important that this good name continue.

“When incidents like this happen, word spreads quickly throughout the international community. We have to be concerned at the impact this could have on the number of international students coming to secondary schools as word filters down.”

Chris France says it is vital that all institutions who provide education to international students work together to protect their reputations. [more]

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“Otherwise schools are in danger of suffering in the future because of such incidents and we could actually see a reduction in the number of international students coming to this country.”

The New Zealand School Trustees Association annual conference is being held in Blenheim this week, starting on Thursday. It will be opened by Education Minister Trevor Mallard.

Early numbers indicate a near-record turnout, with more than 600 school trustees already registered.

The theme of this year’s meeting is “school trustees making a difference” and the conference will bring together trustees from around the country to focus on issues that are affecting New Zealand schools.

Other issues to be discussed at the conference include managing a falling roll, looking at factors influencing the retention and attainment of Maori students, and principal appraisal.

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