‘NZ was on my bucket list ... then the pandemic happened’
Competition is strong for international students in tertiary education. But, after a significant fall in numbers due to the pandemic, they’re returning in droves to New Zealand. Gianina Schwanecke reports.
The early days of the pandemic and lockdown were one of the most challenging times of Sean Teow (Jin Xiong)’s life. The 24-year-old had arrived in New Zealand in 2019 from Malaysia, ready to begin his bachelor’s degree in psychology and history at Otago University.
While going overseas for further education was common in his home country, most of his peers chose to go to the “big three: the United Kingdom, the United States or Australia”.
Not wanting to “follow the norm”, Teow knew little about New Zealand but decided to come here after seeing the “all the beautiful photos of scenery there”.
“I firstly really wanted a space for myself, just to discover myself.”
When lockdown started, he was told he could stay or go home and continue his studies online, all while still paying full international student fees, which are about three times the rate for domestic students. “That’s not what I wanted to do,” he said. “A lot of us decided to stay in New Zealand. We felt it was the safe or preferable decision.”
However, it meant he was separated from his family for more than 2½ years.
“For the people who did go away, getting [back] in was really difficult. [It was] quite restrictive. When the world was opening up New Zealand lagged behind.”
Pre-pandemic, the international education sector was believed to contribute about $3.9 billion to Aotearoa’s economy, according to Education New Zealand (ENZ), making it the country’s fifth largest export.
However, the arrival of Covid-19 and the decision to close New Zealand’s borders in 2020 saw those numbers dive dramatically as many students returned to their home countries.
The sector’s contribution dropped to $800 million in 2022.
Geoff Bilbrough, ENZ’s marketing and communications general manager, said: “It took quite a big hit.’’
With the borders closed there were no new intakes. Students returning home after completing their qualifications eroded numbers further.
Data obtained by The Post under the Official Information Act tracks the return of international students from January 2022, through to when the border reopened, to this summer.
It shows the number of international students still in New Zealand fell to a low of 11,821 in May 2022 before it started steadily climbing again towards the end of that year.
The start of 2023 saw a massive leap. Numbers jumped from 13,895 at the end of 2022 to 31,267 in March last year.
They continued to grow, reaching a peak of 34,228 by August.
As of early February, there were 28,725 international students in New Zealand. The large majority came from China, India and Japan. Most were at universities (11,144 students), Pearson Test of English (6893), polytechnics (4164) and schools (6477).
Bilbrough said the figures showed students were returning and at a level better than expected. The sector was on track to head back to being a major contributor to New Zealand’s economy.
Students figures tended to peak during the summer months, coinciding with the start of the new school year and tertiary studies starting. Similarly, there was a second peak in the middle of the year.
Bilbrough noted that student visa figures did not capture the full picture as they did not include learners here for short-courses on tourist visas and those from countries with visa-free status.
Ann Cabanero arrived in New Zealand after the border reopened. Originally from Manila, in the Philippines, the 34-year-old was working full-time when she began thinking about returning to school.
“When I was in high school it was always a dream of mine to get out there, go outside the Philippines and experience life abroad. I didn’t get a chance – life happened.”
She first started looking at options in 2019, when she saw that a friend from high school was studying in New Zealand. “New Zealand is on my bucket list.”
Inspired by photos she saw, she decided this was where she wanted to continue her studies. “I wanted to finally do something about it. To experience it and not just write about it.
“But then the pandemic happened,” she said with a small, wry laugh.
Cabanero decided to continue with her application to study at Otago Polytechnic and was accepted, deferring the application multiple times due to the border closure and then waiting for her visa to be accepted.
By mid-2022 she was thinking “maybe it’s not for me”. Then the border reopened.
A month before her course began she caught Covid, so postponed her application for a visa as she could not do the medical exam. “I was depressed a little bit.”
At the end of 2022, she decided to try one more time. Her application was accepted in April last year, just three weeks before her course started.
“I had less than two weeks to pack up and move here. It was a hectic time.”
Even pre-pandemic, Teow said visa applications could take a long time. His own visa was approved the week before lectures started.
Bilbrough acknowledged some students had experienced delays, especially during the initial return.
However, he said New Zealand’s visaprocessing times were similar to those of comparable countries like Australia and Canada. “I know they're [Immigration New Zealand] working really hard and they have the seasonal peak that they’re coping with at the moment.”
Last year, the mean processing time was 29 weekdays. As of last month it was down to 26 weekdays, when 10,348 applications were in progress.
Bilbrough said this year’s student numbers were especially strong at universities and schools.
Some schools had struggled to find homestay providers, many of whom had dropped away during border closures. He put this down partly to an increase in people working from home, using spare bedrooms as offices.
“We are seeing them coming back but we can always do with more.”
Te Pūkenga-New Zealand Institute of Skills and Technology attributed a recent surge in students to the return of its international students, with early numbers up 9% compared with last year.
That included a significant increase in international student enrolments, up from 1414 in 2023 to 2455 this year. A spokesperson for Te Pūkenga said the highest percentage of those students came from India (55%).
“Though the PTEs (private training establishments) and Te Pūkenga, they seem very happy with the numbers that they’ve got, but they’ve still got a way to go to get back to pre-pandemic,” Bilbrough said.
The University of Auckland especially had also done well, though Bilbrough said that was to be expected as it held the most international students, followed by Christchurch and Wellington.
There had been no major market share change post-pandemic, he said.
The main subject areas for tertiary students were language and literature, business and management, computer science, mathematical science and information systems.
Under the National-led Government, there is strong interest in restoring the sector to its pre-pandemic state, with a goal of doubling its export earnings by 2030. Bilbrough said it showed “we want them in our communities, we want them to come, we want them to learn here”.
“We want them to return home and take wonderful experiences of New Zealand with them and to to be advocates for New Zealand amongst other learners.”
He noted that international education was a highly competitive market. Students from China and India, an increasingly important market, made up the majority of international students who had “an enormous range of choice”.
The giants were education providers in the UK and US, with a big reputation for their prestigious universities like Oxford, MIT, Harvard and Columbia.
Such opportunities even draw local talent away, such as in the case of Wellington College head prefect Tai Renner, who will head to Columbia University in New York later this year.
New Zealand sits in the next tier down, alongside countries like Australia and Canada. But there is also increasing competition from Singapore.
New Zealand universities have even looked to target international students in their home countries, increasingly partnering with other education providers in countries like Singapore.
Bilbrough said it was easier for parents in China, India or Vietnam to send their child to Singapore, a 3-hour flight as against a 12-hour flight to New Zealand.
“We offer something a bit different. What New Zealand offers is really an excellent education and an excellent experience.”
Teow, now president of the New Zealand International Students’ Association, graduated from Otago in December and has just moved to Wellington alongside many of the friends he made there.
A post-study work visa means he has three years to find work in New Zealand.
“I feel really comfortable here – the people are great. The community is really making me stay here.”
Teow admits that moving from Malaysia to New Zealand was “quite a big change”. While English is his first language, even he struggled to understand the Kiwi accent at first. “Most international students come from Asia, which has a very different culture. The main challenge is the culture shock. It’s the homesickness.”
Cabanero is soon set to graduate from her applied management course. Like Teow, she plans to stay in New Zealand to find work and apply what she has learnt here.
“I want to stay here. I want to apply all the learnings I’ve got here.”
Reflecting on her big year and all that she had achieved since arriving, Cabanero became emotional. “You give up a whole life, you leave your country.”
She said getting into volunteering work, planting trees, when she first arrived had made a big difference and helped soothe some of the cultural shock.
Cabanero also found part-time work, though it was a struggle. Her advice to future students: “Be prepared, it’s not gonna be a bed of roses.”
It was important for international students to arrive financially, emotionally and physically ready. It was also important to find a circle of friends. It didn’t matter where they came from or how many, but it made a lot of difference as an international student, she said.
Cabanero was still grateful overall for her experience, adding “you never know what’s going to happen”.