Did you know that international students bring an estimated 5 billion dollars into the New Zealand economy every year? That makes it New Zealand’s fifth largest export industry.

Now that New Zealand has closed its borders, business is running out for the international education sector. They can offer online classes, but this does not allow schools to use the beauty and safety of New Zealand as a selling point. In the past, many students came to New Zealand to study so that they could enjoy living here, and hopefully even get a working visa after graduating. Some students hope to find a pathway to immigrating here.

Students who came to New Zealand before Covid-19 are still studying here, but as they graduate one by one and no new students arrive, schools will have to look at providing education online to students overseas. Schools will have to depend on their quality of education and price to compete with schools in a similar position all over the world.

For this reason, the government has announced an economic support plan for international education. The total amount of money is 51.6 million dollars, and it will go to universities, schools, polytechs and language schools. Money will also go to developing new business opportunities, such as online education. The government says it will be some time before they are ready for New Zealand schools to start bringing students into the country, and they should expect that no new students will arrive in 2020.

The amount of money for helping the schools is quite a small amount considering how many schools will need help. The government understands this and says it is only to cushion the blow.

Vocabulary:

estimated: guessed

running out: becoming less and less

selling point: the benefits you discuss when selling something

pathway: a plan, a route

one by one: one, and then one, and then one…

in a similar position: in a similar situation (in this case, the situation is a lack of international students)

considering: when you think about; in proportion to

cushion the blow: provide some protection from the worst damage

Collocation:

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