Wong Pansy: Education (Export Education Levy) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
Wong Pansy: Education (Export Education Levy) Amendment Bill — Third Reading 
[Volume:619;Page:15008] 
PANSY WONG (National) 
: 
 It is obvious that the Hon Chris Carter has not even bothered to take the time to read through the bill and that is why he had only one sentence to deliver. Labour must have known this legislation was bad and that is why the first second and third readings of this bill have all taken place as the very last item of business in the House. Labour wants to get away from scrutiny by the media but I am sure there are still members of the public who are interested in export education who are hanging on to every word of the debate that is taking place right now. 
The public was assured by the Minister of Education the Hon Trevor Mallard at the end of last year when this bill was first introduced that the bill would improve the international community’s confidence in New Zealand’s export education. Well the number of international students in language schools in New Zealand has plummeted by a third we were told by Statistics New Zealand. Of course some of the reasons for the fall are due to external factors such as the rising dollar and increased competition internationally for students. However the high-profile collapses of some educational providers in New Zealand the constant changes to the Labour Government’s immigration policy and the protracted procedure involved in obtaining student visas all contribute to the loss of New Zealand’s competitive edge compared with other countries particularly in attracting students from China and Korea. 
Let us reflect for a moment on the recent very high-profile saga relating to National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) credits at Cambridge High School. We learnt once again that the New Zealand Qualifications Authority has audited Cambridge High School and did not detect any problems. We were told by National’s education spokesman the Hon Bill English that in effect the Minister of Education assured the Education and Science Committee that the authority has monitored the way NCEA credits are administered by the various schools. Well so far the authority has not provided answers about its role in not detecting the problem at Cambridge High School. So where is the authority’s accountability? 
Let us come back to the export education sector. In similar instances the authority has not provided answers so far for its failure to detect problems in the high-profile collapses of private educational providers despite the fact that staff in those schools and other people had brought those concerns to the authority’s attention. Curiously the authority seems to be reluctant to take action and to date it has not fronted up to take responsibility for their failings. After all the New Zealand Qualifications Authority is responsible for accrediting and monitoring export education providers but it does not seem to want to take responsibility for its own failings. Instead this bill was introduced to make private providers pay for the failure of their competitors. 
This bill should never have been introduced into the House. The passage of the bill will create a totally undesirable precedent. Think about this: private educational providers are to pay and be punished for the failure of their competitors when they have no say over who can join the export education sector. The authority that can decide who can join the sector in the first place is the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and the authority’s job is to monitor the quality of the provider and whether those providers adhere to guidelines. So the price of the failure of the gatekeeper—the New Zealand Qualifications Authority—is to be paid by the private educational provider. 
 Apart from the lack of confidence due to the lack of robust accreditation and monitoring systems in the export education sector to ensure the delivery of a quality standard of academic and pastoral care for international students another reason that has contributed to the drop in the number of international students is the lack of understanding by the Minister of Education of the needs of those students. Many students and their parents write to me complaining that graduates cannot get a job after finishing their study because employers are reluctant to give them a job offer. Employers are put off by the uncertainty and the length of time involved in the New Zealand Immigration Service issuing work permits. As a result international students cannot secure opportunities to gain work experience in New Zealand. 
When students approach the New Zealand Immigration Service for a work visa so they can look for a job they are told they need to have a job offer to secure a work visa. The students are like footballs being passed from one post to another. International students and their parents get the impression that New Zealand is interested only in making money out of the students rather than in being fair and giving the students at least the chance to gain work experience before they return to their homeland. When we think about it those graduates would make ideal potential migrants to New Zealand after they complete their studies here. Why not think outside the square and introduce a job search visa to enable international students to gain work experience? In the long term we may even gain some good migrants. 
It is time that the Minister of Education did some homework and came to grips with the $2.2 billion export education industry. Instead the Minister of Education has gone into overdrive and announced scholarships to attract international students from overseas. That is interesting is it not? He has chosen to overlook the fee-paying international students who are prepared to come and pay for their tuition here. Instead of doing his homework this Minister of Education would rather spend taxpayers’ money to offer scholarships to international students and to put spin doctors—under the name of “counsellors”—in overseas posts. If the Minister of Education does his homework he will understand that we need to ensure that the export education sector delivers quality education at a competitive price. We need a well-thought-out visa policy effective processing of student visas and to provide work opportunities for international students. Funding spin doctors overseas will not solve the problem. 
The New Zealand Qualifications Authority should work with the export education sector and learn to trust it. After all the success of the export education sector was the result of a lot of good work by various institutions. Most language schools and other institutions have been in operation for a while and have the good of the students and New Zealand at heart. They do not deserve to be treated this way by the Labour Government. If the Labour Government is serious about wanting to restore the confidence of the international community towards the export education sector it should allow and encourage the Education and Science Committee to conduct an inquiry into the New Zealand Qualifications Authority’s capacity to do its job properly. 
This bill was brought to Parliament as a knee-jerk reaction to the collapse of both the Modern Age Institute of Learning and Carich New Zealand. Both those institutions were accredited by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority which is the only body that can enrol international students yet today it has not been held accountable for its failure to do its job. National is totally against the passage of this bill.