New Zealand Education Fairs showcase world-class institutions and niche study programmes

RELATED CONTENTS:
	Education New Zealand celebrates one million followers with $7,320 scholarship
	New Zealand: outstanding education opportunity

Organised by local education agency L&V with the support of Education New Zealand, the fairs will be held in Ho Chi Minh City on September 23 and Hanoi on September 24.

The two days will bring together over 35 world-class education institutions from New Zealand ranging from secondary and high schools, private training establishments, institutes of technology and polytechnics, and universities.

The large group of institutions will be showcasing their internationally-recognised study programmes, while also highlighting the strong education links between the two countries.

A number of New Zealand institutions currently offer co-delivered programmes in partnership with Vietnamese counterparts as part of a consolidated effort to bring the country’s education products closer to Vietnamese students.

The co-delivered programmes will bring New Zealand’s education products closer to Vietnamese students

Victoria University of Wellington offers a number of joint Master’s and Bachelor’s programmes, such as the Bachelor of Commerce of University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, the Bachelor of International Relations with Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, and MA programmes in Arts and Teaching English to Speakers in Other Languages (TESOL) with Ho Chi Minh City University of Education.

Massey University also has a number of partnerships with Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics, including pathway programmes for the Masters of Finance, Masters of Business Studies (Human Resources Management), and Bachelor of Business. Massey University’s other partnerships with Vietnamese institutions range from collaborations on study tours and exchanges with Viet Duc High School as well as initiatives such as faculty development and short courses in Education and Language Pedagogy with An Giang University.

Auckland University of Technology (AUT) has partnered up with Vietnamese institutions such as Vietnam National University, Hanoi University, and Post and Telecommunications Institute of Technology to create joint Bachelor’s programmes.

Meanwhile, University of Waikato has established the UEH-Waikato English Language centre at Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics, where they are also launching a joint Bachelor of Business (2+2 or 2+1 programme).

In August 2017, Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) announced an agreement with Hong Bang International University on the delivery of degrees in Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Information Technology. This partnership is the first of its kind between NMIT and a Vietnamese institute and was developed with a strong emphasis on ensuring that both institutes offered complementary syllabi that would strengthen student’s knowledge in their chosen fields.

John Laxon, Education New Zealand’s regional director of South, Southeast Asia and the Middle East, said these collaborations reiterate New Zealand universities’ commitment to providing Vietnamese students with holistic and valuable learning experiences.

“These educational partnerships provide Vietnamese students with the opportunity to attend world-leading courses offered by New Zealand institutes, and to see how a New Zealand education experience can help students achieve a global career. New Zealand has emerged as an increasingly popular education destination for Vietnamese students, with a 64 per cent increase in the numbers of Vietnamese students choosing New Zealand as their study destination in first eight months of 2017 against same period last year,” noted Laxon.

“What is even more encouraging is that students are choosing to study at New Zealand’s world-class universities, with an 88 per cent increase in the number of Vietnamese students in our universities. We are excited to be supporting the upcoming agent-led fairs as part of our wider efforts to work closely with the top performing agents here in Vietnam and encourage students to visit www.studyinnewzealand.govt.nz to learn about studying in New Zealand,” he said.

Results of the recent 2018 QS World University Rankings also revealed that all eight New Zealand universities rank in the top 3 per cent worldwide.

In addition to its global standing, much of the growth in the number of Vietnamese students in New Zealand can be attributed to a diverse education system that specialises in wide range of education programmes. For instance, tertiary institutions offer a number of courses that focus on emerging fields of study, such as Agriculture, Food Science & Technology, Adventure Tourism & Hospitality, Animation, Gaming and Cyber Security, alongside more popular fields of study, like Information Technology (IT), Business, and Education.

New Zealand was also the first country in the world to put in place a Code of Pastoral Care for International Students aimed at safe-guarding the quality of life of students, making the country more attractive to prospective students.

For Vinh Le, a student pursuing a Master’s of Business Data Science at the University of Otago, it was the country’s warm and welcoming environment that helped him adjust to student life in New Zealand.

“People are very friendly and supportive. When I first got here, I was walking around campus with a map and students would come up and help me without me even asking! With all the help and support, I have been able to adapt to life here quickly,” said Le.

Vinh Le, a Master's student of University of Otago