Minister to represent NZ at OECD conference

Minister of Education and Tertiary Education Anne Tolley will present flagship New Zealand initiatives such as the Youth Guarantee, Trades Academies and National Standards at an OECD conference in Canada next week.

Mrs Tolley will deliver a speech and lead a panel discussion at the International Conference on Vocational Education and Training to be held in Calgary on 31 August.

The Minister will also meet with senior US and Canadian education officials while in North America.

"The US and Canada are important trading partners with New Zealand in many areas of international education business," said Mrs Tolley.

"The conference will be an opportunity to explore recent innovations in vocational education and training, and discuss what new thinking is required in the current global economic environment.

"We will also discuss access for New Zealand tertiary providers to the US Federal Student Aid scheme. Under proposed changes to the scheme, US students may not be able to access student loans to study abroad in countries such as New Zealand.

"This change could severely reduce the US$4.5million that flows into the New Zealand economy annually through the scheme."

While in the United States, Mrs Tolley will meet with Michelle Rhee, Washington DC Schools Chancellor, who has generated significant attention for her reforms on raising standards, teacher quality and school accountability.

"I will also meet with World Bank senior officials on education activities in Asia and the Pacific to help identify opportunities for New Zealand education consultancies to work in those regions."