Foreign PhD students in New Zealand given Right to Work, kids can attend school

In a bid to make New Zealand an attractive student destination, the government has provided students with many facilities. The Right to Work initiative provides perks for students pursuing their PhD, as well as those studying their masters degree and even undergraduates across various disciplines.

Grant McPherson, chief executive,Education New Zealand, explained the incentive for students to opt for the country to pursue their studies further. "At a PhD level, international students pay the same fees as domestic students. In addition to this, both, the student and their partner has the right to work full time. If their children come along, they can also enrol in school as domestic students."

PhD students aren't the only ones reaping the benefits of the scheme. "At the masters level, while foreign students are required to pay international students fees, they have the full time right to work. Undergraduates have a range of high-quality courses along with the right to work too," said McPherson.

Announced in 2013, the initiative came into effect earlier in January 2014 and was introduced as a method to make the education system more compatible for international students. New Zealand follows the Australian and American systems of education, which allow students to open their minds and gauge their core area of interest, after letting students pick up subjects from different disciplines.

Among the international student population, Indians are the second-largest and fastest growing. In the last decade itself, there has been as much as a 700% increase in Indian students picking New Zealand to pursue their academics.

According to McPherson, the NZ government has invested in various disciplines and courses. Talking about the funds received in Christchurch, one of the largest cities in the island country, he said, "We have just recently had a number of sponsorships going down into Christchurch, focused on civil construction engineering, IT infrastructure, in addition to developing a program of international students coming to NZ to help support in a particular setting. We also have sports scholarships and courses of study related to sports, physiotherapy and sports management."

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