WELLINGTON (Reuters) -New Zealand’s government on Monday released a plan aimed at doubling its international education market to NZ$7.2 billion ($4.32 billion) by 2034, which includes relaxing rules around international students working part-time while studying.
Education Minister Erica Stanford said in a statement that with international student enrolments steadily increasing since 2023, the government wants to “supercharge that growth track.”
“In the short term, Education New Zealand will focus its promotional efforts on markets with the highest potential for growth,” she added.
New Zealand’s international education market is currently worth NZ$3.6 billion to the economy and the government would like to double that over the next decade and wants to see international student enrolments grow from 83,700 in 2024 to 105,000 in 2027 and 119,000 by 2034.
This comes as countries including Australia look to reduce foreign students due to the impact on house prices and the impact on the university experience for domestic students.
New Zealand said, to encourage more foreign students to come to New Zealand, it plans to increase the number of hours that eligible international students can work to 25 hours from 20 hours and extend which foreign students are allowed to work in New Zealand while studying in the country.
($1 = 1.6672 New Zealand dollars)
(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; editing by Diane Craft)
