Education New Zealand (ENZ) has allocated $1.6 million to six “innovative” education specialists as the country’s sector adapts to the post-Covid environment.
The six awardees will be handed support ranging from $200,000 to $300,000 for individual projects over the next 12 months.
“The quality of the entrants was a clear indication of New Zealand ingenuity, market knowledge and cutting-edge innovation,” ENZ chief executive Grant McPherson said.
The government announced $10m in 2020 to fund new “future-focused” products and services to drive onshore and offshore growth as part of a $52m sector support package.
Like the 2020 Future Focus Programme, which was designed to help NZ peak bodies “facilitate innovation” and adapt in response to the pandemic, the International Education Product Innovation Fund also hopes to diversify the country’s international education portfolio.
“The sheer variety of fields and technology being utilised shows how advanced the thinking and capability of New Zealand education providers has become,” McPherson added.
“The potential of each of these projects can now be fully explored, and I am confident the lessons learned can be shared for the benefit of our whole education sector, inspiring others to follow their lead.”
The six winning applications, chosen from among 150 organisations expressing interest, include BOMA New Zealand, a global course for rugby coaches developed in partnership with The Crusaders, the 18-week online indigenous eCommerce program Te Whare Hukahuka, and Virtual Medical Coaching, which offers virtual reality online medical training focused on childbirth simulation.
