Tuesday, April 01, 2008 Center for international schooling opens due to increase in clients
WITH the increase in the interest of students from Visayas on getting international education in Australia, IDP Education Pty. Ltd. has established an office in Cebu, which is its first branch outside of Metro Manila.
Marge Gravador, manager for the Cebu office, said that the company started in the mid-80s as a project development office but it ventured in student services in 2000.
“International education in Australia is also the second most popular industry next to tourism,” Gravador said.
Gravador believes the growing popularity of international education is due to globalization, which has encouraged many individuals to gain international skills training.
International education has also become a trend in Asia.
Aside from this, the whole education system in Australia has also become aggressive in terms of international student recruitment.
IDP Cebu has already eight students undergoing counseling. They have already chosen the schools where they want to attend in Australia.
Good mix
Considering that they only cater to paying students, most of their clients belong to the high-income market.
But Gravador said there are also students who availed themselves of international education with the help of their relatives in Australia.
“It’s really a good mix,” she said.
IDP’s country manager, Andrew King, said that the Australian government will usually ask for a minimum financial requirement of Aus$12,000 for an applicant to get a student visa.
Tuition
However, a total of Aus$27,000 is needed to cover the one-year tuition and living expenses.
An undergraduate course will cost between Aus$15,000 and Aus$18,000 while a Master’s program is at Aus$18,000 to Aus$25,000.
International students also have to choose from 500 schools in Australia which are either private, public, technical, vocational, English and marine colleges.
To assist Filipino students, IDP is also encouraging the homestay programs with accredited Australian or Filipino migrant families. This way, board and lodging costs will be lesser.
Work opportunities
King, who was in Cebu last week for the office inauguration, also said that international students in Australia are also allowed to work not more than 20 hours a week.
But on school breaks, they are allowed to work as long as they can.
Those who study in Australia will also have a better chance of getting a job there, especially if they are graduates of information technology, business or accounting and healthcare courses, King said. (DME)
