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Indonesia and New Zealand have agreed to step up education cooperation, the Indonesian Embassy in Wellington said on Monday.

It said the agreement was reached at the first meeting of the Joint Working Group on Education on Friday in Wellington.

The meeting was attended by Indonesian Deputy Education and Culture Minister Musliar Kasim and New Zealand Education Minister Hekia Parata. Also in attendance were the minister for tertiary education, Steven Joyce, and Indonesian Ambassador to New Zealand Agus Sriyono.

The embassy said the agreement would focus on nursing, curriculum development, geothermal engineering and Indonesian studies at New Zealand educational institutions.

Joyce said bilateral relations between Indonesia and New Zealand had improved significantly. “The ties will continue to be stepped up, especially in the field of education,” he said.

Meanwhile, Musliar expressed hope that the JWG meeting would yield a concrete deal in the education sector. He said that at least one of the proposals put forward at the meeting would materialize this year.

The JWG meeting is part of a series of visits to the Whitireia Community Polytechnic, Victoria University of Wellington, Raroa Normal Intermediate School and Wellington College.

At a JWG meeting last July the application of the “Arrangement Between the Ministry of National Education of the Republic of Indonesia and the Ministry of Education of New Zealand on Education Cooperation” was signed in Jakarta.

Musliar said that more than 450 Indonesian students were studying at various universities in New Zealand.

Antara