Our iuniversities create skilled and job-ready graduates, says Ziena Jalil, regional director South Asia, Education New Zealand in a chat with Prachi Rege
With a 10 per cent rise in the number of student visas issued last year, universities in New Zealand are gearing up to attract more Indian student. We have witnessed a good 194 per cent rise in the number of students studying in the New Zealand since 2007. Almost 57 per cent of Indian students study in Auckland.
Due to this, Hindi has now become the fourth most spoken language in the country. In New Zealand, education is the fifth largest growing sector. Currently, it is a $2.6 billion market and our government aims to take it at $5 billion by 2025.
Companies acrosss the world and particularly, India are looking to employ job-ready graduates. As a result, our education institutes have developed modules that train students to be job-ready, rather than just earn an international degree.
A majority of Indian students apply for post graduate or tertiary courses as we call it in New Zealand. These are undergraduates who are already skilled in the technical and theoretical aspects of their subject. Many of them also have a few years work experience in their respective field. Hence, it is important for us to offer these students modules that will further hone their skills. Of course the training is more practical and focuses on giving students skills that can be applied on the job.
Management and commerce courses are most popular with Indians. Several Indian studnets signed up for a course in Cyber security started last year by WelTec (Wellington Institute of Technology). With new jobs emerging in the dynamic business world, courses in health, agriculture, aeronautical engineering, construction management are also steadily catching students' attention. Students must understand that international education is an investment. Hence, they must choose a course and an university, based on thorough research. Most universities in New Zealand offer merit-based scholarships. Masters students are allowed to work part-time for 20 hours a week during school time and 40 hours full time during the break. Though every university has it's own admission period, which is spread across the year, the two major intakes in a year are February and July.
Check list:
1) Give updated information on your application both to the university and the visa office
2) It takes a month to issue a student visa, so produce documents on time
3) If possible get new passports with latest photograph for security reasons
4) Don't over prepare for the visa interview
5) Be clear on why you are pursuing the course you have chosen
First Published: Tuesday, February 11, 2014, 14:15
