Govt welcomes foreign students
A clear political line in the sand is emerging between the two major parties over immigration, as the Government moves to strengthen its commitment to international students.
A new strategy to improve foreign students’ experiences while studying in New Zealand, seeks to attract more to our shores by ensuring they’re made to feel ‘‘welcome’’ and ‘‘valued for their contribution to New Zealand’’.
Included in the plan is a focus on helping international students ‘‘understand the pathways to employment and residency that are available to them’’.
It’s in stark contrast to a Labour policy released on Monday, targeting that group by narrowing their scope to work while studying, and reducing the numbers that could stay in New Zealand after they graduated.
It was part of a wider package Labour sought to introduce in a bid to curb immigration by up to 30,000 and raise the calibre of longterm migrants allowed entry into New Zealand.
Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Paul Goldsmith said the Opposition policy was ‘‘reckless’’ and placed a vital part of New Zealand’s export economy at risk.
He unveiled the strategy designed to help ‘‘protect and enhance’’ New Zealand’s reputation as a ‘‘safe and welcoming study destination’’.
It also called for the sector to make sure students had accurate information about the costs of living and studying here, they understood their rights to work, and that their voices were heard at a Government level when relevant policies were being developed.
Stripping an international student of their ability to remain and work in New Zealand poststudy would have a damaging affect on New Zealand’s export education sector, said Goldsmith.
‘‘The whole thing wouldn’t close down tomorrow, but it would have an impact.’’
Goldsmith said the open post-study work visa - allowing graduates to stay and look for work for 12 months following study - was an important part of the package.
‘‘To just come in and in a blanket way, put at risk a very substantial section of the broader export industry, frankly I think is reckless.’’
Part of Labour’s policy sought to make it more difficult for international students to gain a ‘‘backdoor entry’’ into full residency by limiting the post-study work visas to students who had studied the minimum of a bachelor’s degree. The party expected the measure to reduce net migration by between 9000 and 12,000.
Immigration spokesman Iain Lees-Galloway said part of the sector had become ‘‘little more than a vehicle for people to gain a backdoor to live in New Zealand’’.
He said it made them vulnerable to exploitation.