Foreign Student Policy About Money not Children

Foreign Student Policy About Money not Children

Family First NZ is sounding alarm bells over the latest Immigration policy changes which allow for children as young as five to come to NZ without family members to study.

“These policies which are a cash-cow for cash strapped schools are being developed with a focus on the benefits to the education industry but without due consideration of the harm it may cause to families and to the children,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

“We should not be encouraging situations where young people are being left in a foreign culture and separated from their family for relatively long periods of time.”

“It leaves them in a vulnerable situation of not having the supervision and care that they need from their family.”

“Often the family believes that money will solve the problem, but it fails to deal with the care, supervision and family support that these people need. This can be mitigated by appropriate home-stay arrangements, but this still doesn’t replace the family and cultural involvement.”

Family First recently expressed concern over the Korean Society admitting that many Korean mothers choose to remain here because they want to accompany their children, but their husbands have to work in South Korea because there are no jobs for them here so they are forced to live apart.

“The requirement for even one parent to remain here has now been relaxed,” says Mr McCoskrie.

“It is essential that the immigration and foreign student policies in NZ take a ‘family first’ approach rather than simply focusing on the economic benefits to the education industry and to local schools trying to meet their financial shortfalls,” says Mr McCoskrie.

ENDS

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