Cautionary tale for schools

Schools wanting to increase revenue by recruiting international students have been reminded that it costs schools money to generate the lucrative fees.

The president of the New Zealand School Trustees Association, Chris France, said yesterday schools needed to have clear policies on why they were recruiting overseas - and enough money to provide good programmes for the overseas students.

"Recruitment programmes can't be seen in the same vein as more traditional forms of fundraising such as raffles, where the school takes all the profits," he said.

The association says international students make up almost 29 per cent of locally raised funding for schools - up from about 9 per cent in 1997.

- NZPA