A couple of years ago, I had the privilege to meet many of New Zealand’s distinguished international alumni. To say they were movers and shakers in their countries would be a gross understatement: these people were advisers to Kings, senior Government economists, education leaders, diplomats and high-powered lawyers and accountants, often for large, influential multi-national companies. Many of them were among the first cohort of international students to ever study in New Zealand, in the early 1950s under the Commonwealth Colombo Plan. Read more…

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Butcher A. Export gold : international students in New Zealand. Auckland NZ: Maxim Institute. September 2003. 6p. Includes bibliographical references.

Selling education to overseas students is New Zealand’s fourth largest export earner. This article argues it is not enough to bring students to New Zealand because of their significant economic benefits. Reducing people to economic commodities is dehumanising at best, exploitative at worst. The pastoral care needs of these students must have high priority. Read more…

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Unlimited Magazine: Export education - blip or bust? 

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By Fiona Rotherham
Monday 1st September 2003

Foreign students are jammed en masse into the lift foyer of an inner city Auckland office building, talking loudly in a cacophony of languages. Not a word of English can be heard. Outside, students congregate at the building entrance, smoking, eating, and spitting, seemingly oblivious to others on the footpath. There’s a sudden stampede for the lift, and once inside - packed like sardines - the noise instantly starts again. With your nose wedged against the door, it’s easy to feel resentful of this cultural invasion.

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