Research from Australia’s Victoria University shows that a record number of students are heading to Canada, UK, USA, with Australia and New Zealand continuing to experience a dramatic drop in new international students.
‘Student, interrupted: international education and the pandemic’ research examined five major destinations for international students: Australia, Canada, NZ, the UK and the US. According to student visa data, UK recovered stronger, with international students enrolments 38 percent higher than pre-Covid.
This research is in line with the latest figures released by Immigration New Zealand which shows that only 19,191 foreign students remain in the country, as compared to a normal year when there would be up to 86,000 foreign students in the country at any one time and about 115,000 over the course of a year.
The total is down from 51,580 in April last year, with the private sector being the worst hit of all the institutions with just 3181 students remaining in the country, a fall of about 72 percent.
Polytechnics had 2892 full-fee foreign students in NZ, a drop of 69 percent since April last year. In schools, there were 4197 foreign students, down from 10,500 in April last year.
However, despite this drop in numbers largely associated to border closures, industry professionals say that the demand for NZ as an international education destination continues.
“Students want to come to NZ because it’s safe, supportive and as a country, we are doing well,” says Bharat Chawla, an education industry leader who is currently working on developing various platforms for NZ education.
Sarita Sharma, an education advisor from India says that demand for NZ still remains, however uncertainty and lack of clarity on borders and visa processing has left students opting for other options.
This year, in April, the Navitas Agent Perception Research found that while Australia and NZ continue to be perceived as ‘safe and stable’ due to their elimination strategies and low COVID-19 cases, the survey said this perception is increasingly irrelevant to a country’s reputation as a study abroad destination. Around 30 percent of agents viewed Australia and NZ as being “open and welcoming” to international students. Conversely, the figure is 51 percent, 74 percent and 76 percent for the US, the UK and Canada respectively.
The survey captured the views of nearly 900 agents in 73 countries around the world.
According to news reports, Australia processed over 20,000 student visas in last one-and-half year, while over half a million students are headed to Canada to pursue their studies. The US is also actively processing student visas for Indian students.
Nimish Chaudhari who applied for his Masters from Waikato University, expected to be in NZ for the July 2020 intake. However, due to border closures, he was unable to travel for his course, and was given an option of pursuing his course online. Instead, he chose to apply to a university in London.
“I wanted to come to NZ to pursue my Masters, however, I wanted to do it in person, in the country,” he said. “I waited to for a year, however, I am 25 now, I cannot put my life on hold for the borders to open, and hence decided to apply for a UK university.”
Victoria University research shows that new Indian international students to the UK have more than doubled since before Covid, jumping by 174 percent.
Sharma said, “We continue to receive queries from students across the country, and some of them are excited to do online courses, but for many, the appeal is being in the country.”
Last month, Covid-19 Response Minister Chris Hipkins said that NZ will open its borders to all vaccinated international travellers, including international students, on April 30. The reopening is set to occur in a staged way, details for which have not yet been released.
During the announcement Hipkins said, “We will work through the details closer to the time, but the crux of it is – this is certainty for the sector that international students will return next year.”
Chawla remarked, “People are willing to investing in NZ’s education strategy of providing high value, and high quality, but they need more of a timeline on when borders will be opening, and what the process will be like.”
The government previously announced that up to 1000 bachelor and postgraduate students might be eligible for a border exemption to continue their studies in NZ. Last year, it also established a category that will allow 250 international PhD and postgraduate students to enter NZ and continue their studies.
However, fewer than 200 students out of the planned 1000 were reportedly allowed into the country, largely attributed to the drawn-out application process and lack of spots in MIQ.