The horticulture students, aged 18-28, have been identified as potential leaders and some won scholarships to study at the polytechnic's Cromwell campus. They will spend five months in Central Otago and focus on improving their English skills and studying management and this country's health and safety rules. As well, they will work in the cherry industry, gaining practical experience and earning wages to support their study.
The man behind the pilot programme, polytechnic horticulture and natural resources principal lecturer Alex Huffadine, of Cromwell, said it should benefit all involved.
''It will be amazing for us [the polytechnic] if it works out as we hope it will. The Chilean students add interest and diversity to our campus and of course, it grows our reputation as a place for international students to study.
''The success of the programme is also important to the Chilean officials, as their Government looks to diversify its economy into other areas, such as horticulture, moving away from an economy heavily reliant on the copper industry, for example.''
Most of the students were already studying at agricultural vocational colleges in Chile and they were ''the top of their game'' as far as their horticulture skills were concerned. The students were a ''nice fit'' for Central Otago - ''they're similar people to us, eat similar food, and they're from a fruit-growing area''. They were interested in learning more about the management style in this country which was a contrast to what they experienced in Chile.
''Ours tends to be a much flatter structure, there's more crossing through the different responsibilities and there's more contact here between managers and their workers,'' Mr Huffadine said.
New Zealand had more focus on health and safety in the workplace than Chile had.
''So the students here will be taking in the whole ethos of how to look after people and manage them - they'll be the strong messages they'll be taking home with them.''
Teaching English to foreign students was another growth area for the polytechnic's Central Otago campus and an extra staff member had been appointed to cater for that, he said.
The polytechnic had leased ''modern'' houses as accommodation for the students.
