Indonesian and Malaysian agents visit New Zealand

Zealand staff member, visited institutions in Auckland, Hamilton, Wanganui, Napier, Christchurch and Dunedin. Agents were also shown local cultural and art sites and got to experience a range of modes of transport.

Harianto Ani of Next Generation Enterprises in Indonesia said that the trip was definitely beneficial. “I was impressed with the institutions’ facilities and student activities,” he said. “It is a bit quiet in New Zealand but it is a perfect environment to study. I now have more confidence to consult [about New Zealand] with our clients.”

Casey Leong of IEC in Malaysia studied himself in New Zealand so was already a fan of the country, but he said the trip was ideal for updating information on the various courses, programmes and institutions available. “New Zealand has kept up with the times and the facilities are just as high-tech and modern as in any other country,” he observed, adding, “Even I had forgotten how beautiful New Zealand really is.”

Kate Parlane at Education New Zealand explained that the group got to experience snow in Christchurch – it was the coldest winter there in half a century – and visit the steepest street in the world in Dunedin, with their chaperone bravely driving down it. Meanwhile, a ride on the historic Wellington Cable Car was a highlight of their visit to the capital during a weekend stopover.

An inbound trade mission for nine Thai agencies to visit English language teaching institutions in central England was organised earlier this year by English UK. Katie Motley, Market Development Manager at the association, told Language Travel Magazine that these missions “seek to give agents the opportunity to view the diversity of provision, the facilities and the quality of ELT programmes available at English UK member centres”.

Two full-day workshops enabled agents to meet up to 25 education providers, while seven English UK members showcased their institutions for a morning or afternoon visit. Ananta Akkawat of Union Plus agency in Thailand commented, “The trip helped us to broaden our perspective of UK institutions and the nice people and culture that we visited along the way.” Pam Dubois, Business Development Manager at ILS Nottingham, which took part in the mission, said, “This was an excellent opportunity to meet so many Thai agents at one time.”

The next such mission is scheduled in the autumn for a group of agencies from Russia.

The American Association of Intensive English Programs (AAIEP) held an agent workshop during the Nafsa Conference, in Montreal, Canada in May this year. Organised by BMI, the event was attended by 30 schools and 45 agents.

Alexis Lasheras, Vice-President of Outreach at AAIEP, said members were very pleased with the event and had commented on the diversity and quality of agent attendees.

Plans are already underway for next year’s workshop, which will take place on May 26-27 in Minneapolis, USA.

Industry issues - agents speak out

Q How much of an attraction to clients is the opportunity to work part-time when overseas?

Mansuk Bae, KAMC, Korea
“Being able to work part-time while studying overseas would [be attracive for] many Korean students. Especially, students from middle-income families – 30 per cent of the population – would take advantage of the work opportunities and cultural experience due to financial reasons.However, many Korean students from high-income families probably would not concern themselves with the part-time work opportunity. The USA is in the greatest demand as a study destination [for Korean students]. There are limited [work] positions overseas for students and most of the time, students’ expectations of work opportunities are shattered. If they are lucky, the types of jobs students find overseas are menial, such as cleaning, dish washing or farming.”

Claudio Tysler, Canada - Brazil Exchange Programs, Brazil
“Part-time work is absolutely attractive, as it is an opportunity to live the native language and learn the routine of the citizens. Besides, it is a good way to cut costs, especially in expensive countries, such as the UK. Australia and the UK are known as countries that facilitate this [work option] and it is easiest for students to find part-time positions there. The most typical types of jobs that students find when abroad are in hospitality, tourism and restaurants.”

Federica Baggiani, Studiainitalia, Spain
“In the last few years, we have noticed a dramatic increase in the number of applications for [employment] positions in Italy. In fact, during the first half of 2006 more than 15 per cent of our students have decided to combine their linguistic stay in Italy with a part-time job in one of the different sectors offered by Studiainitalia – such as tourism, architecture, arts and crafts. Part-time jobs are frequently requested by young participants who see this as a cost-effective way to spend a longer period abroad.”

Maria Aparecida de Castro Barbo, High Connections, Brazil
“We have observed that the UK and Australia are the two favourite destinations due to the affordable costs of some of the programmes and the clear and fast visa procedures, especially in the case of Australia. Besides, some of our clients have reported that they can easily find part-time jobs in these countries, mainly in the hospitality and restaurant sectors. Some students returning home give recommendations about jobs to students just entering the country, or even to other students in their home country.“

Juris Tuns, Mecenats, Latvia
“The possibility to work part-time while abroad is vital for ex-Soviet countries such as Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. Every second customer is asking about such a possibility. In the new European Union countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, interest in part-time jobs is starting to decline. The countries most in demand from clients are the UK, Ireland, USA and Australia. Students find it easiest to gain employment in the UK and USA. Typical jobs are waiters and front desk receptionists, for those who are advanced in English. For students with poor English: cleaners, kitchen workers, construction workers, farm workers and fruit picking.”

In a series appearing each month in Language Travel Magazine, we ask a different language teaching institution to nominate one of their preferred agencies or agent partners, and to explain why this person/company is worthy of their nomination.

This month, East Coast School of Languages in Halifax, NS, Canada, nominates Ad Astra International in Mexico. Sheila Nunn at the school explains this decision.

“East Coast School of Languages has developed a strong relationship with Ad Astra International since shortly after we opened in 1998.

Ad Astra has a superb sales team, with more than 50 agents located in the smaller cities throughout Mexico. We have travelled to Mexico to support Ad Astra’s student fairs and to conduct training sessions with the agents. In return, Ad Astra agents have come to Nova Scotia to experience life in our school and in our host families.

Both companies have benefited greatly from these exchanges as we each learn more about the other’s responsibilities and challenges. It is important for Ad Astra agents to get regular feedback from us about their students’ progress in the school.

Ad Astra agents are deeply concerned about the well-being of all their students. The family-feel of their relationships with their students perfectly matches the family feel in our school.”

Carl Maidment took over the role of Sales and Marketing Manager for the School of English Studies, Folkestone, UK in February. He has been with the school since 2001 and before taking on this new role, Mr Maidment was managing all junior programmes and adult group business. “My ambition is to see the school once again at the forefront of language innovation, with quality care and service being shown to all those who attend a course with us,” he said.

The Association of British Language Schools (ABLS) is pleased to announce that Diana Lowe has recently been recruited as Projects Executive. Known to many agents and other industry professionals, Ms Lowe has long-standing experience in the language travel industry, most recently at ICS in Norwich, UK. This new role at ABLS is linked to the recent separation of the ABLS accreditation body from the association.

Trevor Naudi is the new Marketing Manager at the Chamber College for Educational Services in Gzira, Malta. He said, “My career path in the language travel business has been quite exciting and I am just as excited to embark on this new adventure with Chamber College.” He previously worked at NSTS in Malta. Mr Naudi’s role at Chamber College will be to steer the school to “new heights of service quality and customer satisfaction”.

Jane Wright has left her position as Sales and Marketing Coordinator at St Giles International in the UK. She will be taking up a post for Macmillan English Campus as Sales and Marketing Manager in their regional offices in Mexico City. “I will be sorry to leave behind all of my colleagues in the UK, but am excited about a new start and the chance to work overseas,” she said. Macmillan English Campus is an online learning environment being used by students all over the world.

Agency group, iAE Global, has the pleasure of welcoming Graham Pickering as the new Taiwan Director, where he will be establishing the iAE Taiwan recruitment network. Mr Pickering’s recent experience includes being Director and Proprietor of the Seattle Language School in Taiwan as well as International Director of JMC Academy in Australia, where his marketing territories covered Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Korea. Prior to that, Mr Pickering was International Director of the Billy Blue Group based in Sydney, NSW, Australia.

English UK is in the midst of meetings to discuss the new visa system being developed by the UK government. Tony Millns, Chief Executive at English UK, answers our questions.

Full name: English UK
Year established:
2004 (through the merger of Arels and Baselt)
Number of members:
345 English language teaching centres, 17 corporate members and 25 accreditation consultation subscribers
Type of members:
English language training providers accredited by the British Council through the Accreditation UK scheme, also corporate membership and accreditation consultancy
Association’s main role:
To develop our members’ professionalism and to protect and promote their business and interests
Government recognition: Yes
Code of practice: Yes
Complaints procedure: Yes
Agent workshops/fam trips: Yes
Contact details: English UK
56 Buckingham Gate, London, SW1E 6AG, UKTel: +44 20 7802 9200Fax: +44 20 7802 9201Email: info@englishuk.comWeb: www.englishuk.com

What has English UK been up to in the last year?
The two main activities in the last year have been firstly the re-negotiation of the partnership with the British Council to run the Accreditation UK scheme. A major review of the scheme has resulted in reduced costs and greater accessibility as well as flexibility for centres. Secondly, we have continued to work with government departments on the Joint Education Taskforce (JET) to contribute to consultation on the new student visa system.

The linking of accreditation to visa issuance has been promised by government – what will this mean for the UK market?
It’s about time this happens! The implications are that students will only be given a visa if they are enrolled at an accredited centre. This will lead to the closing of more and more non-accredited centres and therefore end the damage they do to the reputation of the UK.

Under the new system, sponsorship of a student by an institution means that a student visa will be linked to a particular institution – this suggests problems for students switching providers, for example. Is English UK working on this?
Switching institutions is one of the topics of detailed discussions we are having in JET. Our aim is to make it possible for students to switch institutions reasonably easily in order to gain the best education and not distort the market. In particular the cost of moving to another institution must not be so high that students choose not to switch even though it would be for the benefit of their career.

Who else participates in JET along with English UK?
The main representatives of the UK education sector are Universities UK, the Association of Colleges and English UK. The Home Office, DfES and UKvisas are main representatives of the government.

What are English UK’s plans for the future?
First of all we are preparing for the move of the fair from Brighton to London in 2007. In addition, we will be piloting an approved agency scheme.

Grapevine

UK English language school, English in Chester, has scooped a local tourism award for having the best website in the region. Principal of English in Chester, Richard Day, was particularly proud as his son, Nick Day, was the brains behind the website’s revamp. “We are a significant part of international tourism in the city [of Chester] and it is a real pleasure to win this award against such high profile opposition,” said Day. His son, who undertook the redesign project as part of his university degree, is now working on the English in the North website.

The lucky sub-agents in Switzerland working for Globo-Study Sprachreisen get to take part in an annual mini-fam trip each year known as the Fastest fam in the West (as from now). On a Friday afternoon, they fly to Malta, attend a welcome reception at Easy School of Languages, then go out and sample the nightlife in Paceville. Saturday morning brings a trip to the beach to swim and in the afternoon, a flight back to Zurich again. “This year, again, it was a great event,” said Claudi Cesarano of Globo-Study. “It was very effective in terms of promoting Valletta and Malta with a perfect mix of fun and seriousness – which are the selling points of Easy School of Languages!” The trip was also supported by Air Malta and the Malta Tourist Board. Pictured here, a group of the agents disembark and later, Malta’s nightlife is put to the test.