A coalition of schools and tertiary institutions from Nelson and Marlborough has formed, with a goal of attracting more international students to the region.
Education Nelson-Marlborough, which has just received final funding from Education New Zealand, hopes to double the economic value of international students in the Top of the South by 2025.
Member schools and NMIT have also committed funds, and grants were received from Nelson City and Marlborough District Councils and the EDA last year.
Cathy Ewing, chair of Education Nelson-Marlborough and Principal of the Fundholder School, Nelson College for Girls, says it was “very exciting” to finalise the funding just before Christmas, and they are now in the process of appointing a project manager to put their business plan into action.
“The educational opportunities able to be offered to international students in our region are significant and they bring diversity to our school and tertiary communities. There is significant economic benefit, not only to the institutions but also to the region.”
Cathy says that once they have a project manager on board the first steps will be for the marketing material to be developed, and they will then be visiting China to promote the region and to make connections with agents.
International education has shown to bring significant revenue to the region, with a study commissioned in 2012 by NMIT stating that in 2010 a total of 1213 international students had contributed some $23.5 million to the regional economy, with a further $1.5 million contributed by family and friends coming to visit.
About half of the $23.5 million was represented by tuition fees, leaving a further $11.5 million spent in-region, benefiting other businesses.
