Christchurch Educated Skills Scholarships for India announced

Fifteen top Indian students will study programmes directly related to the Christchurch rebuild under the latest round of international scholarships, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce announced today.

Scholarships worth NZD$150,000 have been awarded to Indian students studying postgraduate courses in skill shortage areas at Canterbury’s most reputable tertiary institutions.

The students will begin their masters and postgraduate diplomas in earthquake engineering, mechanical engineering, construction management, biotechnology, and ICT at the University of Canterbury, Lincoln University, CPIT and Avonmore Tertiary Institute NZ in July and February. 

“These are areas where there is high labour demand particularly as a result of the Christchurch rebuild,” Mr Joyce says. “It is possible that a number of these students will stay in Christchurch once their study is completed.

“We want to continue to attract high quality students to New Zealand and for them to secure meaningful jobs, if they are eligible to work here, particularly in industries experiencing skill shortages such as ICT, engineering, construction, telecommunications and science.”

Mr Joyce says the programme will also further enhance New Zealand’s education links with India, the second largest source of international students to New Zealand.

“Scholarship programmes like this are an important aspect of strengthening New Zealand-India education relationships. Each Indian student studying here will act as an ambassador for New Zealand promoting the quality of our education system when they return to India,” Mr Joyce says.

Christchurch Educated Skills Scholarships for India is a partnership arrangement between Education New Zealand, New Zealand’s government agency for international education, Christchurch Educated and the Canterbury Development Corporation.