WELLINGTON, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand Ministry of Education is looking at options to make the Export Education Levy (EEL) fund more sustainable by increasing the levy percentage to protect New Zealand's reputation as a study destination, Education Minister Chris Hipkins said on Tuesday.
The EEL is a levy collected from international education providers to fund a broad range of activities including marketing and promotion. It also funds reimbursements for international students caught out by program and provider closures, Hipkins said in a statement.
The ministry is asking education providers who enroll international students, such as universities, institutes of technology and polytechnics, private training establishments (PTEs) and schools, for feedback on options for increasing the levy percentage, the first such increase since the levy was created in 2003.
"Over the past year or so, calls on the levy has almost emptied the EEL fund," Hipkins said, adding that increased effort to monitor and address quality issues have led to a sharp increase in PTE course and provider failures, with international students needing to be reimbursed.
"Our reputation as a destination for international students relies in part on our generous student protections, such as those funded by the levy. Leaving the levy at the present level is not an option," he said.
The EEL is paid as a percentage of international tuition fees, currently 0.45 percent. The government is consulting on two options: increasing the rate for all international education providers, with a greater increase for PTEs, or just increasing the levy for PTEs, according to the ministry.
