5 May 2020

Cook Islands govt checks on those studying in NZ

6:17 pm on 5 May 2020

The Cook Islands High Commissioner to New Zealand, Elizabeth Wright, says anxieties, challenges and potential solutions are part of a Covid-19 scoping survey she hopes to wrap up this week.

Cook Islands' High Commissioner to New Zealand, Elizabeth Wright-Koteka.

Cook Islands' High Commissioner to New Zealand, Elizabeth Wright-Koteka. Photo: Cook Islands Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Immigration

As the first 130 of more than 300 returning Cook Islanders leave New Zealand quarantine this Saturday, Ms Wright said her government was keen to see how its more than 150 tertiary students were doing.

The Wellington-based High Commission had contacted Cook Islands student associations across New Zealand.

"They do not necessarily want to go home but they just want some 'back-stopping' under these Covid restrictions and the implications of Covid-19 on their families' abilities to provide them support while they remain here to study," Ms Wright said.