NEAS is thrilled to share that the Commonwealth Minister for Tourism and International Education, Senator the Hon. Richard Colbeck, has confirmed that he will address the NEAS 2016 Conference, held on the 12th and 13th of May 2016.

International education now contributes $19 billion in export income p/a and is Australia's largest service-based export.

We look forward to hearing the Minister's views on how our industry is developing and on future policy direction.

Australia is a big and expensive place in which to travel around!   NEAS shares the challenge of balancing the cost of Quality Assurance with our Quality Assured ELT centres.    

A solution to this challenge was recently pioneered in partnership with Inforum Australia.  Inforum moved to fabulous new premises only a short time after having undertaken a full NEAS Quality Assurance site assessment at their previous location.

To reduce the time and cost impact of this extra visit, Inforum sent through their new Occupation Certificate and floor plan.  The visit was scheduled and using a smartphone, Skype and a fair bit of patience, NEAS Quality Assessor Lauren O'Hern was taken on a tour by Inforum PA Simon Craft.

NEAS will continue to experiment with new tech to balance cost with quality, for the benefit of students and providers!

An informal meeting between QALEN signatories ‘NEAS’ (represented by Di Price) and ‘English New Zealand’ (represented by Mark Hornby) in Wellington New Zealand established some fascinating similarities and some differences between ELT Centres in both countries relating to QA processes private and government sectors.  Both the Australian and New Zealand agencies conduct Quality Assurance assessments, which are undertaken by trained ELT assessors.

Mark Hornby is located in Christchurch, and involved with both the NZQA and English NZ. He is currently working on Program Design with a team a team in Christchurch as well as  involved in auditing ELT centres throughout New Zealand.  We look forward to welcoming  him again at this year’s NEAS Conference in May 2016 under the QALEN cooperation arrangement.

Areas of common interest that arose included verification of teacher qualifications, and the inclusion of  the practice teaching component.  

Due to the earthquake in Christchurch 5 years ago, the number of ELT centres has reduced in the region, although not in New Zealand overall.  Di Price noted that the range and diversity of courses offered remained similar to those offered in Australia.
Both QA Agencies agreed that clear policies and procedures were priority areas and the need for informing staff of these was critical.

Congratulations to Eddie Kawamura and all of the staff involved in undertaking NEAS Quality Assurance at Oxford College of English.  Special mention must be made of Academic Manager Bei Li for her efforts and investment in quality at Oxford - well done!