Virus could affect NMIT finances
‘‘I’m still hugely concerned about the potential impact that this has.’’
Liam Sloan,
NMIT chief executive
The head of the Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology is ‘‘hugely concerned’’ about the financial impact of coronavirus on the polytechnic.
NMIT chief executive Liam Sloan said 54 Chinese students enrolled there – 23 new students and 31 returning students – would not be starting on the first day of the first semester, on February 24.
‘‘We anticipate that there’s still going to be a delayed start for those students,’’ Sloan said.
‘‘Until we know exactly when any restrictions might be lifted, then we will continue to work with the partner universities and with agents to make sure these students are clear on what’s happening.’’
Sixty-one Chinese summer school students who had stayed in New Zealand over summer would continue their studies at NMIT on February 24, as planned.
On Monday, the Government implemented temporary travel restrictions, refusing entry to any foreign travellers who left or transited through mainland China after February 2.
Chinese students made up the largest group of NMIT’s 1400 international students last year, with Indians the secondlargest group.
A similar number of students from China were due to start in semester two, Sloan said. ‘‘February, March and April is usually when we go to China to promote our secondsemester programmes. So this is probably likely to hit us even bigger.’’
Talks were being held at a multi-agency emergency management committee about how to deal with students from other countries affected by the virus, he said. ‘‘[And] to try and get some strategic direction around potentially looking at late starts, potential refunds, what might be the implication financially for . . . not being able to bring these students into the country.
‘‘I’m still hugely concerned about the potential impact that this has on our forecasted enrolments for 2020, and the implication financially that this loss of income is likely to have on NMIT.’’
The amount NMIT stood to lose if Chinese students who were due to arrive didn’t come at all would have a significant impact on any budget surplus, he said.