Auckland University has announced a hiring freeze with $30 million in losses expected from the Chinese travel ban, affecting international student numbers.
An Auckland University spokesperson outlined the details leading to the hiring freeze, saying the university originally expected to host 4000 students from mainland China, but around 2000 of these have been caught up in the travel ban.
"This will have a significant impact on the University’s revenues, with more than $30 million of revenue at risk in the first semester. This is equivalent to the entire operating surplus that we are required by government to make this year," Auckland University says.
Because of this, Vice-Chancellor Stuart McCutcheon has instituted an immediate freeze on the hiring of new staff.
“Many of our students are the single child of families who are not well off and who have scrimped together the resources needed to send them here in order to secure their own future and the future of their family in a country that has only modest social welfare support," Vice-Chancellor McCutcheon says.
"Years of building relationships with those students, their families, and their country are now at risk, as are New Zealand’s relationships with China more generally.
"It is to be hoped that the government will soon relax the travel ban so that we can welcome our 2000 students to the University and fulfil our undertaking to deliver them a high quality education.”
On Monday, the Government extended the China travel ban for a further eight days
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