Korean seek more support for students

Tae Won Chung. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Representatives from the Korean Society want to meet the Avondale College principal to push for better pastoral care and support for international students.

The move follows Tuesday's stabbing of a teacher.

The society is calling for stronger measures to spot stress signals and troubled students, and it also wants the school to train older international students as counsellors to identify peers going through a rough patch.

"The stabbing on Tuesday could have been prevented if there had been a system in place to spot the signals. Students who do not open up to professional counsellors often open up to their closest friends," said society director Kenny Jeong.

The father of Tae Won Chung, the student accused of stabbing Avondale teacher Dave Warren, has arrived in New Zealand, and was briefed at the Korean consulate office yesterday on the gravity of the incident.

Mr Jeong said export education was a big industry in New Zealand but he was not sure there was adequate support for fee-paying students.

"International students pay a lot of money to be in New Zealand, and it is only fair that they are well supported while they are studying here."

He said common problems faced by students included bullying, relationships and conflict with teachers and homestay families.

A fulltime counsellor has been engaged to assist school counsellors.

However, Education New Zealand chief executive Robert Stevens said the stabbing was "an isolated and tragic case" which would have been difficult to avoid.

Mr Stevens said international students were "absolutely well supported in New Zealand" and schools were required under the code of practice to ensure that these students received the additional support they needed.

"It varies from institution to institution, but help is readily on hand for international students in New Zealand," he said.

"They receive pre-departure orientation, airport pickups when they arrive, help in settling in and most institutions have fulltime international staff. Students in high schools are especially pretty well looked after."

Mr Stevens said some schools also already had a buddy system for international students which performed a similar function to "peer counsellors".

Avondale College principal Brent Lewis said he would not comment as he had not received any meeting request from the Korean Society.