Wellington: The New Zealand education sector has moved to distance itself from attacks on Indian students in neighbouring Australia, saying they were "totally different societies", according to media reports.
"What we want to do is to remind education agents in India that New Zealand is a different country from Australia - in the nicest possible way," Robert Stevens, chief executive of Education New Zealand, told the
New Zealand Herald.
Stevens said he had told the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise office in India to market New Zealand as a totally different country to Australia, which has been dubbed as racist following a series of attacks on Indian students.
Tough time for student industry in Australia
New Zealand has nowhere near as many Indian students as Australia - just over 6,000 compared to the 90,000 on the other side of the Tasman Sea - but numbers have doubled over the last three years.
"This could possibly increase the numbers quite drastically," Stevens said. "We are constantly competing with Australia - time will tell if there'll be a surge in numbers."
For more International news | For more Political news | For more Offbeat news
