New Zealand Education Week Commits Investment Worth NZ$ 400,000 As Part Of The India Strategy

Education ties between New Zealand and India are set to strengthen following one of Education New Zealand’s biggest events of the year, the India-New Zealand Education Week. Starting on 17th April 2023, this week will encourage a dialogue on research while fostering innovation culture exchange and cooperation in the context of international education. The week-long activities included a series of engagements between New Zealand and Indian institutions and academics.

Demonstrating New Zealand’s overall commitment to India, New Zealand has announced an investment of NZ$ 400K towards internationalisation and student mobility initiatives. These include further engagement with the New Zealand Centre at IIT Delhi to include fellowship grants and the re-launch of the partial scholarships under the New Zealand Excellence Awards.

The New Zealand Excellence Awards (NZEA) is a unique scholarship scheme designed exclusively for Indian students. The awards are jointly funded by Education New Zealand and all eight New Zealand universities. Since the launch of the scholarship in 2016, it has supported over 200 Indian students to pursue their overseas study at world class universities in New Zealand.

Speaking at the event, Education New Zealand’s Chief Executive, Grant McPherson said, “New Zealand’s education system is future focussed and multicultural, offering students an opportunity to earn work ready degrees.”

“India is one of New Zealand’s priority partner countries for collaborations, exchanges and student mobility. We are excited that today’s announcements around the New Zealand Centre and the launch of the New Zealand Excellence Award scholarships demonstrate our commitment to India as an education partner.” Added Mr McPherson.

Adding to this, IIT Delhi spokesperson, Prof. James Gomes, Dean International added, “The New Zealand Centre embodies IIT Delhi’s efforts to embrace internationalisation, providing opportunities for new research collaboration and global exposure for our students. The first round of jointly funded Research Collaboration, awarded in 2022, has helped foster collaborative, sustainable and self-supporting research programmes.”

“Today’s Memorandum of Understanding has further enhanced the partnership and cooperation in research, teaching and fellowships between India and New Zealand and provides an opportunity to explore other innovative ventures,” added Prof. Gomes.

The announcements were made at a media roundtable session hosted at the New Zealand High Commission in the presence of: HE. David Pine, New Zealand High Commissioner to India, Grant McPherson, Chief Executive, Education New Zealand; Prof. Alister Jones, Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Waikato, and Dr. Erik Lithander, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Strategic Engagement University of Auckland.

The India-New Zealand Education week has senior level attendance from all 8 universities from New Zealand and focusses on high level engagement between New Zealand universities and Indian institutions and partners.

The visiting senior delegates and academics from New Zealand universities include:

Guy Littlefair, Pro Vice Chancellor, Auckland University of Technology

Annie Goh, International Director, Lincoln University

Christopher Gan, Head of Department Financial & Business System, Lincoln University

Christopher Carey, Executive Director Global Engagement, Massey University

Gaurab Sen Gupta, Deputy HOD Food & Advanced Technology, Massey University

Erik Lithander, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Strategic Engagement University of Auckland

Alister Jones, Senior Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Waikato

Graham Wise, Director of International Development, University of Canterbury

Anthony Ballantyne, Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Otago

Blair McRae, Deputy Vice Chancellor Victoria University of Wellington

Vasso Koutsos, Deputy Director International Marketing & Recruitment University of Auckland

All the New Zealand universities have India based/responsible staff, who are also accompanying the delegation during the NZ-India week, these include:

Fatima Sayed-Naqvi, Recruitment Manager Auckland University of Technology

Linda Oostenrijk, Recruitment Manager, Massey University

Ashish Suri, Recruitment Manager, University of Waikato

Mohammed Hussain, University of Canterbury

Victoria McEniery, Otago University

Ankit Mehta, Victoria University of Wellington

About Education New Zealand (ENZ) https://www.enz.govt.nz/

Education New Zealand Manapou ki te Ao (ENZ) is the government agency responsible for taking New Zealand’s education experiences to the world. ENZ promotes a New Zealand education as one that teaches students to be critical thinkers, problem solvers and lifelong learners, which will help them succeed in their future careers and create a positive impact on the world. In 2019, New Zealand’s education system was ranked first among English-speaking countries and third in the world for delivering a future-focused education (out of 50 economies) by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

With approximately 100 staff in 18 locations around the world, ENZ works closely with New Zealand’s diverse education sector, including schools, English language providers, Private Training Establishments, Institutes of Technology and Polytechnics, universities, and internationally with NZ Inc agencies, Government agencies and education providers to encourage sustainable growth and identify opportunities.