New Zealand is keen to further strengthen ties with India in the education sector during its Prime Minister John Key’s visit to India next week.
Talking to FE, Jan Henderson, high commissioner of New Zealand in New Delhi, said, ?We are keen on a partnership approach in education. New Zealand wants to increase its education export revenue and would like to see increased student arrivals from India for higher tertiary education. New relationships can be developed in several areas like IT, higher education, sports and training. One of our universities has developed a sports development programme, which includes training and administration. India has shown interest in this programme and there have been several visits by senior officials to New Zealand to learn more about this programme.?
According to MEA officials, Key and his delegation will emphasise a number of advantages that New Zealand offers to students from India, including high quality learning at internationally renowned universities and tertiary institutions, safety, a vibrant resident Indian community and lower cost of learning and living compared to Australia and European countries.
?Another niche area has been our indigenous people. Again, India has shown keen interest in this programme. When Kapil Sibal, India’s HRD, Communications and IT minister, visited New Zealand last year, he was fascinated by this model and now in the first week of August a group of 15 university chancellors will be heading to New Zealand to see this model,? the envoy added.
In 2010, both countries reached a new agreement on education, which is hailed as a ?significant achievement? and expected to lead to the exchange of officials and personnel, teacher training, distance learning, quality assurance and collaboration on educational projects between India and New Zealand. The number of Indian students approved to study has increased steadily over the past five years, from around 3,700 fee-paying students in 2005-06 to over 12,000 in 2010-11, according to statistics released by Immigration New Zealand (INZ).