COVID-19 UPDATES

Sandra Hazlehurst, Mayor of Hastings District Council

Kirsten Wise, Mayor of Napier

New Zealand is the first to eliminate Covid-19. International students are being well looked after in our Hawke’s Bay schools and institutions.

Te Pūkenga/EIT International Centre has created a support network to ensure students continue to feel safe and well connected during these challenging times. The student support team has created Messenger and WeChat groups as well as campus specific private Facebook pages to keep in regular contact and provide the latest information. The team has also set up a virtual group called ‘Zoom and Chat’ which brings students and staff together on a weekly basis. In addition, weekly student support emails are sent to all students to share information about wellbeing, staying active, community support and emergency contacts.

At our schools, international students are being checked in by schools’ international staff on daily basis to ensure they are safe, comfortable and happy. Students are also receiving special tutoring and instructions from subject teachers as they work through their on-line learning programmes. Schools are reporting that all their current international students are in nurturing and supportive homestay families. In addition to online learning, students are also occupied with a wide range of activities around the house, including backyard games, learning to bake and cook, playing music, daily walk in our beautiful neighbourhoods in Hawke’s Bay, while keeping a safe physical distance from others (which is easily achieved due to the very low concentration of populations in New Zealand, especially in Hawke’s Bay).

Many international students and their parents say that they feel much safer staying in Hawke’s Bay than anywhere else, during the pandemic.

For detailed information on how Covid-19 impacts on international students’ study and life in New Zealand, please go here

Te Pūkenga/EIT International HB Student Video 1

For agents and education providers, please look up information here