Excerpts:
What brings this initiative to India?
The purpose of the fair is to introduce the country's worldclass educational institutions in India. Twelve of the country's top educational institutes will be involved in the fairs. Some of the participating institutes are - Auckland University of Technology, Eastern Institute of Technology, Pacific International Hotel management School and the Wanganui Polytechnic.

There has been a lot of student interest from India but it was at a low level. Over the last some months, the number of students' visas was increasing. With the new academic session starting in February 2001, we decided to supplement that with this education fair. The factor that the trade between New Zealand and India has registered good growth also helped. About 44 Indian film crews have visited New Zealand in the last two-and-a-half years. That has generated a lot of student and tourism interest.

What planning has gone into the initiative?
To tap the education sector in India, we took some initiatives - the visa office here was expanded - it is now New Zealand's second biggest visa office in the world. A resource centre was also constructed here in Delhi. A network of the agents was also put in place all over the country who provide their services free. We have also entered into a tie-up with zeelearn.com to reach a broader audience. All the information regarding our institutes has been put on our Website - www.educationnz.org.nz.

What is the education scenario for the international student in New Zealand? How is the initiative linked to employment?
The education system is divided into eight state universities, five colleges of education, 25 institutes of technology, 400 secondary colleges and over a 100 private providers.

The first point here is that the education in New Zealand is affordable - we are one fifth or one sixth of the cost of education in the US and are 30 per cent cheaper that Australia. Also, during the last three years, the value of the New Zealand dollar has dipped 32 per cent compared to the rupee. That make the cost cheaper.

The other factor is the government decision in this regard. The New Zealand government does not offer scholarships. That's why the cost of education has been kept low. A graduate or a post-graduate programme costs $5000 approximately per year (the cost varies for each of the programmes) in New Zealand. Students are also allowed to work 15 hours a week and can earn US $5-6 an hour. The government encourages the students to take up a job in the country after the completion of the degree. It considers the interested students as potential immigrants. The student's visa can then be extended up to two years for employment purposes. There is a good potential of getting New Zealand citizenship as well as the students who have completed their studies in New Zealand are awarded additional points.

What kind of employment opportunities lie in New Zealand?
There are 20003000 existing IT vacancies in New Zealand. In other sectors also, such vacancies exist. The areas with great employment opportunities include information technology, food processing technology, engineering and tourism. We hope to achieve a target of 500 admissions to New Zealand institutes this year. For the next year, we are doubling the target.

What are the courses like?
The courses in New Zealand would not match courses in some of the very elite institutes here but they easily match a whole gamut of courses available worldwide. New Zealand is one of the biggest exporter of food. The expertise in food technology is very elite.

What is the entry level salary?
A graduate can expect a salary of Rs 50,000 a month for most of the sectors while for the IT sector, it is just double this amount.