International Pacific College

I begin by greeting everyone in the languages of the realm of New Zealand, in English, Māori, Cook Island Māori, Niuean, Tokelauan and New Zealand Sign Language.  Greetings, Kia Ora, Kia Orana, Fakalofa Lahi Atu, Taloha Ni and as it is the afternoon (Sign)

I then specifically greet you: Mr Hiroshi Ohashi, Chief Executive and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the International Pacific College; Professor Wayne Edwards, President of the College; Your Worship Jono Naylor, Mayor of Palmerston North; Paul Rieger, former Mayor; Iain Lees-Galloway, member of Parliament for Palmerston North; Your Excellency, Hai Nam Vuong, Ambassador for Viet Nam to New Zealand; Hon Dame Catherine Tizard, former Governor-General; Dean Emeritus, Ken Cunningham; Distinguished Guests otherwise; Ladies and Gentlemen.

It has been a great pleasure to accept the invitation to attend the 20th anniversary celebrations for the International Pacific College here in Palmerston North.  I would like to take an opportunity to speak of the importance of international education and of the role that this College has played in furthering it.

I would like to say at the outset how good it is to have reason for more contact with International Pacific College, having enjoyed the experience of attending an IPC graduation ceremony in 2006. 

It is also good to be back in Palmerston North, this being the place where our family happily lived for three years when I was first appointed as a Judge in 1982.  I have visited many times since, especially since taking on the Governor-General role just over four years ago.

International Pacific College was opened by Dame Catherine’s immediate predecessor as Governor-General, Archbishop Sir Paul Reeves, as New Zealand’s first private tertiary education institute in 1990.

However, the story goes back further to the early 1980s, when the Education Foundation Group, a non-profit organisation which had been operating in Japan for 20 years, saw the challenge of establishing a Japanese education institution at a tertiary level in an English speaking country.

I understand that the group’s Board of Trustees visited the United States, Canada and New Zealand in a search for an appropriate location.  The Board selected New Zealand, and in particular Palmerston North, as the location for its first tertiary institution. 

When the College opened, there would have been some who might have questioned the wisdom of opening an institute primarily directed at educating international students.

The naysayers, however, have been proven wrong as the College has continued to grow, establishing new facilities and widening its links within New Zealand while continuing to provide quality education programmes.

In 1990, there were just 69 students, all of them from Japan and twenty years later, there are now several hundred students from more than 20 nations. 

The growth of the College mirrors the ongoing growth of international education in New Zealand and other parts of the world.
 
Students travelling to other countries to study is not a new phenomenon and has been occurring since the establishment of the first higher learning institutions.
 
However, it is only with the advent of modern communication and transportation systems that the numbers of internationally mobile students have begun to increase in dramatic fashion.  To explain this, in 1975, UNESCO estimated that there were about 800,000 students studying abroad.  By 2007, those figures had risen to an estimated 2.8 million, a growth of more than 3.5 fold.  That increase has not been linear, with much of the rise occurring in just the last decade.

In New Zealand, statistics published earlier this year by the Ministry of Education indicate that more than 93,000 international students were enrolled at all levels in New Zealand in 2009.  While those figures were down on the peak reached in 2002 and 2003, they were still significantly higher than the numbers in 2001.

Those students come from almost every country on the globe, although China, Korea, Japan and India account for more than half of all student visas issued.  International students also make a significant contribution to the New Zealand economy, which is estimated to be worth $2 billion a year.

But the value and contribution of international students should be measured in more than economic terms.  During the lifetime of this institute, New Zealand has become an increasingly diverse nation—in cultural, ethnic and religious terms. 

The presence of international students adds to that diversity immensely.  In an academic environment, they give New Zealand students a different perspective of the world around them.  It is a great benefit for New Zealand legal and political science student to discuss and debate with students from nations where the Head of State might be elected, where violent changes of government have occurred or where elections may be far from free and fair.

Moreover, students do not just study when they travel abroad.  They participate in local clubs, sports events and other activities and they often work part-time in local businesses. They make friendships here and forge bonds, some of which may last a lifetime.  

All of this constitutes a huge contribution to international cross-cultural understanding, and New Zealanders can be proud of the fact that our country is seen as fertile ground for this kind of education.

To those ends and many more, the International Pacific College has truly been a pioneering institute, forging new paths in international education.  Alumni from ay parts of the world have returned to Palmerston North to share their stories of the College’s early days and their stories of successful careers and lives since that time.  It is a record of achievement which all can rightfully take much pride.

I therefore take this opportunity to congratulate the Board, staff, students and alumni on all that has been achieved since the College was opened 20 years ago.  To that end, I had the privilege a little earlier of unveiling two magnificent sculptures on the College grounds to mark this significant milestone. 

In New Zealand, despite the significant number of rights that are conferred on those who reach 18 years of age, it remains the tradition that we celebrate one’s coming of age at 21.

However, if you will forgive an observation from an erstwhile lawyer and Judge, I can happily inform all gathered here today that under the Age of Majority Act 1970, one officially becomes an adult at age 20.

With that legal stamp of approval, I think it is fair to say that the International Pacific College, which now celebrates its 20th anniversary, has definitely come of age.

And on that congratulatory note I will close in New Zealand’s first language Māori, by offering everyone greetings and wishing you all good health and fortitude in your endeavours.  No reira, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, kia ora, kia kaha, tēnā koutou katoa.