Oct 26, 2026 · 4 min · 5 segments
Foreign students are making thousands of insurance claims for mental health problems and industry insiders say they need more support. Education correspondent John Gerritsen reports.
John GerritsenMorning Report HostHost
The International Students Association told RNZ mental health was an important issue but refused to comment.
Education New Zealand Chief Executive David Downs says it's not hearing of any significant rise in mental health problems.
All young people today have got challenges that are real, you know, in terms of The modern society and international students probably have an extra layer on top of that, which is often being displaced in a different language, different cultural context, etc.
But we see that being a big trend in the data.
He says survey results indicate the vast majority of international students are having a great time in this country.
This year we've had over 5,000 respond, and nearly 90% of them are telling us that actually they're having a very strong, positive experience in New Zealand.
It's only about 3% that are saying it's not as good as what they had hoped.
And obviously we always want to improve, but that's probably the best in the world in terms of student experience.
David Downs says Education New Zealand encourages education providers to train their staff and support students, but there are no plans to change rules or make more investment in that area.
The International Students Association told RNZ mental health was an important issue but refused to comment.
Education New Zealand Chief Executive David Downs says it's not hearing of any significant rise in mental health problems.
All young people today have got challenges that are real, you know, in terms of The modern society and international students probably have an extra layer on top of that, which is often being displaced in a different language, different cultural context, etc.
But we see that being a big trend in the data.
He says survey results indicate the vast majority of international students are having a great time in this country.
This year we've had over 5,000 respond, and nearly 90% of them are telling us that actually they're having a very strong, positive experience in New Zealand.
It's only about 3% that are saying it's not as good as what they had hoped.
And obviously we always want to improve, but that's probably the best in the world in terms of student experience.
David Downs says Education New Zealand encourages education providers to train their staff and support students, but there are no plans to change rules or make more investment in that area.
The rest of this transcript — segmented and speaker-labeled, so you land on the exact moment something was said
Search every transcript — by keyword, by phrase, or by meaning, across every show Radar indexes
Trends — what is surging across podcasts, measured against its own baseline
Alerts — when a name you follow appears in a newly indexed episode
No account is needed to search Radar.
