Outbreak affects school travel and recruitment

Some Nelson schools’ international travel plans have been put on hold due to fears around the spread of coronavirus.

While so far there has been little effect on international student numbers, principals say there is a concern that future enrolments could be affected.

In 2019, there were 341 international students enrolled at primary and secondary schools in Nelson City and Tasman District.

Waimea College principal Scott Haines said the biggest effect from the outbreak had been on visiting short-stay groups, and overseas travel for domestic students. This included the cancellation of short-stay visits from three Japanese schools and one from Thailand.

The school was also reviewing its outbound trips for domestic students as far out as September.

Haines said it was too early to assess the effect on next year’s international enrolments. ‘‘We’re certainly concerned from the perspective that it’s making it harder to market [the school] right now.’’

He said the school was set to participate in student recruitment fairs scheduled for Hong Kong, Thailand and Japan this year, but those trips would need to be reviewed.

So far, there had been no disruption with any of the 78 international students enrolled for 2020.

Nelson College acting headmaster Tim Tucker said the impact of the virus had been minor so far. Two returning year 13 students from Wuhan were still in China and had not been given clearance to leave yet.

He said most of the international students enrolled for the 2020 school year had arrived before the coronavirus outbreak, or had come from countries so far unaffected by the disease.

Some overseas trips had also been postponed in the first quarter, he said, including those to market the school overseas.

While there could be a longerterm effect on international enrolments, at this stage it was impossible to tell what this would be, Tucker said. ‘‘It depends entirely on the life cycle of the virus.’’

Nayland College principal Daniel Wilson said that because of the makeup of its international enrolments, his school might not have been affected as much as others. Most were from Europe and South America.

While there had been some students arriving from affected countries, they had all arrived before the outbreak, he said.

‘‘At the moment, we’re just making sure we’re educating the students about coronavirus and putting forward the usual hygiene messages.’’

Wilson said there could be a softening in enrolments in the next year or so because of the virus, but at this stage it was almost impossible to predict.