Friends of Christchurch Education lunch, Wuhan, China

Sunday June 13 2004

Good afternoon. Welcome to all of you who have at any time entrusted your children’s education to us in Christchurch. Those of you who have will know that there is much more involved to this act of trust than just the desire to acquire formal education.

There is also the forming of bonds and connections that will last across time, distance and cultural differences. Confucius once said that: "It is better to light a small candle than to curse the darkness." Like many of his sayings it is curiously relevant to the present day.

Today, with a little imagination, we can see that the candle lit by Rewi Alley many years ago has inspired others to join in lighting the way between us. We now see each other much more clearly and openly than in the past.

We have already moved a long way forward since I signed a co-operation agreement with your Mayor the last time I was here.

So welcome to all of you here today, parents, past students, agents and other friends of Christchurch education. Education has become one of the main building blocks of our mutual future.

Over the last few months much of my time has been spent in putting together a long-term plan for Christchurch, called Prosperous Christchurch. The aim of the plan is that we consider not only our financial wealth, but also our natural wealth - our beautiful surroundings, and our wonderful way of life. We have looked hard at how we can build upon, and retain, that prosperity.

We have identified several areas that we must concentrate on to build and enhance our way of life. Central to all of this is education. Education for our people, and education for our guests, who will become our friends and ambassadors when they return home to places like Wuhan.

I have come here today to tell you that I, personally, am serious about providing quality education for your children. I also want to instil your great respect for learning into our own people. The way forward for all of us Pacific Rim people in this Century is education - education - education.

The strategic relationship between Christchurch and Wuhan with regard to education gives us a firm foundation on which to build other profitable, mutual connections in the future. Through this process we are actually investing in each other's future prosperity.

You will have all seen enough change in your own lives to realise that the pace of change is rapid and sometimes ruthless. To equip our children to face the hastening waves of change in their lives we must educate them to learn, and be ready to learn again, many times during their lives.

For the sake of the wealth of Wuhan and Christchurch we must not leave it to our national political leaders to forge ties of diplomacy and trade. At the same time we must salute their courage in opening up a free trade agreement between our two nations.

But we must not forget that increasingly the people of our regions and cities will work together directly on developing our mutual future.

So what can Christchurch offer to help with the education of your people? In the context of today's wonderful meal I could say we offer a rich banquet of choice. In close proximity we have two universities, two polytechnics, a college of education and an array of private education institutions. They have all now had time to learn exactly what their students from other lands and cultures require. We now have the expertise to provide what you need.

I note that Wuhan has 35 tertiary institutions with about 300,000 students. Christchurch has five tertiary institutions catering for over 26,000 students. We can provide a safe and settled environment for learning. We also offer a strong set of education pathways, from language study, to secondary study, through to tertiary study.

I also take pride in being able to tell you that we are strengthening our already excellent support systems for students. We have a care providers’ association, the Education Christchurch and Canterbury group, the Christchurch City Council and the support of the private sector. This is all set in a very pleasant and safe environment. We also have a very moderately priced cost of living.

I take pride in all this because I regularly remind our education providers that they should always think about how they would want their own children to be treated, if their children were being educated away from New Zealand.

The Christchurch City Council helps bring together all the people involved in making this goal a reality. We play a major role in making sure that both the public and private sector are working towards the same goals for our city.

Christchurch is a city that is starting to reflect its export-focussed nature as a world citizen. Nearly one fifth of our citizens, or 17 per cent, were born overseas. This has led to a maturing amongst us with regard to diversity.

We now celebrate international festivals such as the Chinese New Year. We have an international student centre. We have a wide range of festivals and public events. As a city we actively support groups like Education Christchurch and Canterbury.

Our central Government too has joined in this process of growth with regard to international students. There will be permanent education counsellors in Beijing. There will be scholarships for top international post-graduate and under-graduate students. There will be study-abroad programmes for New Zealand teachers and students. Those are future trends.