Japan’s government has unveiled an ambition to get 400,000 international students into the country by the year 2033.

In the fifth meeting of the Council of the Creation of Future Education, Japanese PM Fumio Kishida indicated the targets were necessary to bolster Japan’s overseas education standing.

The move will replace the original 2018 plan to get 300,000 international students into Japan, and will also look at supercharging the number of Japanese students studying abroad.

Statistics show that as of May 1, 2021, there were 242,444 international students in the country, a 13.3% decrease from the previous year. China, Vietnam and Nepal make up the top three sending countries.

This is a fall from the peak in 2019, when the country hosted a total of 312,214 international students.

Kishida told the council that he wanted specific figures in the plan, “such as the aim of achieving 500,000 Japanese students studying abroad and 400,000 international students by 2033”.

“In order to achieve this goal, I would like to ask you to make more detailed proposals such as expanding the medium-to-long-term overseas dispatch of Japanese students,” he told the council.

He also said it would take various avenues to successfully reach both the inbound and outbound goals; he suggested the promotion of English language education and cultural education, as well as reviews into residence status and even promoting job-hunting assistance for international graduates and returning Japanese students.

The plan will also include improving the “environment of universities working on internationalisation”.

“I think this goal is of course motivated by Japan’s plunging population. Japan needs to start making up for budget shortfalls by bringing in new students,” Benjamin McCracken, director of JCMU’s Hikone Campus, told The PIE News.

“First for me is the question of whether Japanese universities can even support this many students.

“Most universities do not seem to understand that foreign students need care beyond what Japanese students have in my opinion, they have lagged behind in providing students with access to things like medical support. One university I know of has other students helping to take international students to the hospital,” he explained.

Kishida also mentioned that Japan would need to promote “international exchange with G7 members” to help with bringing up the numbers – but did not specify what exchange this entailed.

“Japan needs to start making up for budget shortfalls by bringing in new students”

If Japan wants to reach the goals it is laying out, it would need to offer more programs in English, according to McCracken.

“While there are a lot of students who are interested in Japanese, it does appear that at least from the US, students have less and less desire to learn Japanese intensively,” McCracken added.

Meanwhile, Japan’s outbound student ambitions are also reaching for the skies – with that immense ambition of 500,000 Japanese students studying abroad. According to Davide Rossi from Go! Go! Nihon, Japan won’t be the only non-English speaking country looking to reach these heights.

“It really depends on what the plan is to increase the number by so much; the statement itself doesn’t mean a lot,” Rossi told The PIE.

For McCracken, the idea itself is “an impossible”. For a start, he said, institutions need to ease back on strict schedules that demand graduation in four years, and the government should really look at integrating education abroad into degrees before looking at encouraging students to go abroad for full programs.

“The [students] who have done it successfully in the past few years have gone on one-for-one changes where they’ve paid their local Japanese tuition only – what’s more, Japanese English proficiency is still too low.

“Japan could also look at allowing students to study other languages in high school other than English. I think this could well be the biggest factor in helping students to get abroad,” McCracken suggested.

The announcement made by Kishida comes after it was reported that more overseas nationals are staying in Japan than ever before.

“If it wants to attract talented people it needs to offer something to make Japan better than average”

Data suggests that more than 40% of overseas nationals have been in Japan for over three years, and that the number of international graduates choosing to stay is also increasing. But if it is to compete with other destinations in post-study work, there needs to be better provisions for visas.

Currently, incentives for foreign workers are particularly low. McCracken suggested a lowering of taxes or other incentives for them.

“If it wants to attract talented people it needs to offer something to make Japan better than average for the long term,” he added.

Currently, both Rossi and McCracken evaluate that the plan Kishida has put forward, while interesting, is simply not substantial enough for inbound student mobility, and certainly not for outbound.

“There is no culture of accountability and usually the government says something and leaves it to the party affected – in this case universities, Japanese language schools, and agencies – to figure out how to reach those numbers,” Rossi commented.

“More students will come here, especially once the Japanese embrace going maskless again, but in terms of Japanese students going abroad, the government would really need to amp up the financial support, not just for short term students, but for students getting degrees abroad as well,” McCracken added.

Kishida indicated that education minister Keiko Nagaoka would be putting forward a second recommendation at the end of April.

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The Asia-Pacific Association for International Education conference returned after a three-year hiatus, hosting some 2,700 participants from 67 countries and regions, in Bangkok, Thailand.

“We are all here today because we believe in inclusive and sustainable growth,” said Banchong Mahaisavariya, president of Mahidol University, as he addressed APAIE 2023 delegates during the opening plenary.

To achieve such growth, international education is a key driver, said Mahaisavariya, as he highlighted “a sense of care and sense of ownership for peace, prosperity and sustainability of our international education community”.

The conference’s theme Towards a sustainable future for international education in the Asia Pacific inspired various interpretations and perspectives over the five-day event.

For Mahaisavariyah, sustainability means building a community that is “people-centric” and one which “leaves no one behind and looks to the future”.

“For some of us, a personal and professional sustainability has necessarily been the primary focus in recent years as we’ve faced unprecedented challenges as a global, international education community, as well as in our own lives and institutions,” said Sarah Todd, APAIE president and vice president, global, Griffith University.

Todd highlighted the importance of using the conference to share best practices and explore ways to ensure environmental sustainability remains a key priority, as well as to discuss avenues to contribute to the UN SDGs.

“Part of international engagement is about persuading”

Such efforts pertain to sustainable communities, inclusive and equitable societies, access to quality education, decent jobs and economic growth, as well as mitigating environmental impact and partnering for impact, said Todd.

APAIE itself signed the CANIE accord – designed to strengthen and accelerate the sector’s commitment to climate action – in late 2022.

A reoccurring theme throughout the conference was how to create and maintain sustainable partnerships, including a debate on if institutions need already established and aligned values in order to succeed together.

For, Lavern Samuels, president, IEASA, and director of international education and partnerships, Durban University of Technology, it is “certainly easier” if there are shared values but it is not a “deal-breaker”.

“Part of international engagement is about persuading, changing and transforming through our engagement so having a partner who’s open to deepening their sustainability footprint I think would be enough for us to engage with them and there’s a lot we can do,” Samuels said.

Speakers on a global dialogue panel highlighted the importance of considering diversity across regions and how this can impact partnerships, with LaNitra Berger, president and chair of the board of directors at NAFSA, noting that there are many different views on the spectrum of environmental sustainability in the US.

Climate change can impact the mental health of international students, but remains a “politically complex” issue in the US, we are hearing from LaNitra Berger, president, @NAFSA during @apaieofficial global dialogue panel. #APAIE2023 pic.twitter.com/GgwB4KRpiA

— The PIE News (@ThePIENews) March 16, 2023

“You have institutions in different regions of the country where people are heavily invested in environmental sustainability and building partnerships in other places where sustainability is a priority,” said Berger.

“And then you have other regions where maybe they don’t even believe that climate change is a thing and so there’s just much less of a policy framework to support institutions that are interested in the environment.”

“I think we also need to be careful that we don’t want to only be partnering with institutions like ourselves, that we really should be partnering for the different perspectives and the different needs that they bring,” said Todd.

Jennifer Bahen, counsellor for education and research at the Australian Embassy in Vietnam, would like to see a future supported by greater alignment and connectivity of systems.

“Our future is something that we will create a partnership rather than a future that we want to create alone,” she said.

The resilience of international students and the wider sector post-pandemic was discussed, along with to what extent it is an institution’s responsibility to manage expectations and ensure international students have a deep cultural awareness of their host country.

Discomfort is part of an international experience, however student well-being should never be compromised, the audience heard from Samuels.

“I believe that international education should not be a finishing school for elites,” Berger continued.

“It should be a tool for social change. Part of that social change comes from leaving what’s familiar and what’s comfortable.”

“It’s about balance,” added Todd, who shared personal anecdotes of her own international education experience as a student in Japan, where she said little accommodations were made for her culturally, resulting in a “transformative” experience.

The 2024 APAIE conference will take place in Perth, Australia.

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The UK government should recognise the role of education agents in future iterations of the country’s international education strategy, representatives from the sector told an all-party parliamentary group this week.

Asked what the parliamentary group should be saying to government, Bobby Mehta, associate pro vice-chancellor at the University of Portsmouth and BUILA chair, said the “significant contributions” by agents, counsellors and pathway providers should be recognised.

Jacqui Jenkins, global programme lead for international student mobility at the British Council, agreed that agents should be cited in the strategy and added that the priority should be on “maintaining quality first” in order to promote the UK as a study destination.

Jenkins told the group that although the British Council has experienced funding cuts, “huge amounts” of money are being invested into agents via the organisation’s new hub, which she described as a “one-stop shop” for anyone recruiting to the UK.

Launched in December, the hub allows agents to gain certification after completing training, which Jenkins described as a “badge of good practice”.

“We would like to make sure that agents and counsellors get the right information so they can provide good service to that student and, therefore, students make informed choices about the UK and we can meet their expectations,” Jenkins said.

There are approximately 10,000 agents on the platform and over 1,000 of those have been certified.

Speakers highlighted the importance of agents to the entire student journey, with students often initially relying on agents to “cut through that noise of information” about study destinations, according to Charley Robinson, head of global mobility policy at UUKi.

“The agent and counsellor role doesn’t stop at the point at which a student is enrolled”

She said agents can provide “useful insights, comparisons and objective views of the relative characteristics and merits of universities and study destinations that students can’t easily get from universities directly or from families”.

“The agent and counsellor role doesn’t just stop at the point at which a student is enrolled,” she added. Sue Edwards from Destination for Education agreed that agents are essential to help with the “practical” parts of coming to the UK and to support student transitions.

Robinson discussed how other countries are working with agents, pointing out that 75% of students are recruited to Australian institutions via agents compared to around 50% in the UK. She said that Australia has “long understood” the role of agents and cited Western Australia’s recent agent incentive scheme.

The APPG is set to launch an inquiry into the post-study work visa in the coming months.

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INTO University Partnerships has announced its latest University Access Centre is opening in New Delhi.

The pathway provider, which launched an in-market counselling and advising strategy in 2022, says the centre will connect ambitious Indian students with leading universities in the UK, the US and Australia.

INTO has committed to establishing 10 UACs worldwide by the end of 2023 and the India site joins other hubs in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Jakarta and Bogota.

The University Access Centre “transforms” the whole study abroad experience for students, according to INTO CEO Olivia Streatfeild.

“It brings everyone and everything under one ecosystem to ensure students are empowered to make informed decisions and have the best enrolment experience,” she said.

“The facility is designed to be a dynamic, vibrant space where students can engage face-to-face with education agents and university representatives and access information and support for their academic and career success.”

Other centres planned for later in the year include in Bangkok, Lahore, Lagos, Almaty and Dubai.

The location is “strategically” located in Connaught Place – where SI-UK has a centre as well as the British Council being located nearby – and will cater to students both from New Delhi and the adjoining regions.

Demand for studying overseas among Indian students “continues to grow at a staggering pace”, the company added.

Indian students going abroad for higher education recorded a six-year high in 2022 at 750,365, a 68% jump compared with the previous year, INTO noted.

“The demand for international education is growing at a staggering pace in India”

“The demand for international education is growing at a staggering pace in India. More than three million Indians went to abroad for higher education between 2017 and 2022 and this is likely to accelerate further,” said Diwakar Chandiok, INTO’s vice president (Recruitment) for South Asia.

UAC New Delhi will “provide unparalleled facility to Indian students to seamlessly access higher education opportunities abroad”, Chandiok continued.

And for universities, the UAC will deliver an “enhanced profile in a crucial recruitment market”, deploy staff managed by INTO to engage students, while agents will have a direct channel to universities and to support staff which is designed to boost student conversion efforts.

“With our extensive network of partner universities and experienced team of education agents, we are committed to supporting students throughout the enrolment process and beyond for their academic and career success,” Chandiok said.

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The US secretaries of state and education have urged superintendents to push for schools to host international students through government programs.

Antony Blinken and education secretary Miguel Cardona crafted a joint letter last week calling on superintendents to encourage school districts to host students via the Department of State’s Exchange Visitor Secondary School Student Program.

“American high school exchanges are a fundamental part of US public diplomacy efforts and some of the US government’s earliest grassroots exchanges [began] in significant numbers following the Second World War,” the letter stated.

Exchange visitor programs for high school students include the Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange, the Future Leaders Exchange and Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study.

Blinken and Cardona asserted that thousands of high school students from almost 60 countries apply for approximately 2,100 spaces each year. Additionally, over 20,000 students are sponsored to come to the US through the BridgeUSA program.

Referencing the 2021 Joint Statement of Principles in Support of International Education, the secretaries said the benefits of international education are “especially true at the high school level, where the presence of international students in our classrooms benefits American students and schools by promoting cultural curiosity, a global mindset, and mutual understanding”.

The PIE News previously spoke with former YES exchange student Ali Lafi, from the West Bank, who participated in a high school exchange program in Arizona. “After my exchange program, I have a whole new understanding of not only Palestinian life, but also of American life and life beyond US borders… I believe I have a well-rounded view of culture.”

After spending 28 years as a superintendent in four districts across the US, Sheldon Berman now holds a top leadership position at the American Association for School Administrators, the national association for school superintendents.

“As a superintendent, I observed the profound personal growth our students experienced through the hosting of international students in our schools, student exchange programs and international visits,” Berman told The PIE.

“Given that the worldwide interconnections of our social, economic, and political lives will inevitably deepen and expand in the years ahead, such developmental experiences are essential today for students to succeed tomorrow as citizens of the global environment.”

“Who can deny the need for our students and future leaders to have a deep understanding of world history and culture?”

In 2006, a group of superintendents in Massachusetts formed the Global Studies for the 21st Century task force to promote “international connections and understanding” for district leaders “with the purpose of serving as a catalyst for international student travel”.

“With all that is currently at play in global politics, who can deny the need for our students and future leaders to have a deep understanding of world history and culture, and appreciation of our interconnected world?” facilitator of the group, Anthony Bent, told The PIE.

A former longstanding superintendent himself, Bent now serves a leadership consultant for superintendents, administrative teams, and school committees in addition to his leadership in GS-21.

“It will be to our certain peril if we ‘pull the covers over our head’ and hope that everything will always be ok for our country,” he added.

GS-21 has sponsored six professional development tours for superintendents to several European countries, with the next planned for October 2023 to Helsinki and Tallinn.

“International exchanges allow for the expanding of one’s potential,” said GS-21 member Joseph Baeta, the superintendent in Norton, Massachusetts.

“From culture and creativity to gained knowledge and understanding, there is no other way to learn but from within. Our international exchanges have provided all involved the opportunity to better oneself and learn the ‘why and why not’ from another perspective.”

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A young man leaves his car and enters an immigration office in Ikoyi, one of the wealthier parts of Lagos. The video cuts to him walking down a corridor, waving his new green passport. Officials wearing khaki clothing pass in the other direction, ignoring the camera that follows him. The man returns to his car smiling. The caption at the start of the video reads, “My japa journey begins”. 

“Japa” is a Yorbua word, meaning to flee or to escape. Since borders re-opened after the pandemic, the term has been co-opted to refer to the exodus of Nigerians. 

@tosinsilverdam My Japa journey begins, the process and collection on International passport was so smooth at the passport/immigration office Ikoyi. Thanks to Madam Grace, PRO Ikoyi Passport office. I don scratch my car already, my village people at work #fyp #vira ♬ original sound – Tosin Silverdam

Young people like Tosin Silverman, the young man waving his passport, have flocked to social media to share their japa stories. Silverdam’s 48-second TikTok video has racked up almost 19,000 views alone, while the hashtag ‘japa’ has over 700 million views on TikTok. YouTube is filled with videos explaining ‘How to japa’ and ‘relocation content creators’ are becoming major influencers on Instagram. 

For the study abroad industry, social media clicks are translating to new customers. 

Emeka Ude, Nigeria managing director at BCIE agency, said the last two years had been the busiest of his 22-year career.  “It’s the noise, it’s the buzz. Everybody is moving around,” Ude tells The PIE. 

“What is happening now is like a trend, it’s like fashion,” agrees Chamberlain Okolue, centre operations manager for INTO University Partnerships at the company’s University Access Centre in Lagos.  

In a 2021 poll, 73% of Nigerians said they would relocate with their families if the opportunity arose, and many are using international education as a way to do so. The number of Nigerian students in the UK more than doubled in the 2021/22 academic year, compared to the previous year. In Canada, there were over 8,000 more Nigerian study permit holders in the country in 2022 than in 2021.

But, while social media might add to the ‘buzz’, TikTok content alone is unlikely to persuade someone to up and leave the country they were born in. Rather, the explosion of japa content reflects the deeper factors driving Nigerians away from the country. 

Political and economic turmoil 

Nigeria’s February 2023 election was mired in controversy as the electoral commission failed to transmit results from polling stations on time, provoking accusations of manipulation and rigging. Bola Tinubu emerged as the country’s new president but opposition parties have called for another election. 

“Nobody knows what’s going to happen,” says Okolue.“Is it going to go from bad to worse?”

Afolabi Adekaiyaoja, research analyst at the Centre for Democracy and Development, a Nigerian think tank, says the outcome of the election has “led to some renewed comments online to accelerate plans to move, largely because the ruling party responsible for the last eight years has won another term in power”.

“The divisive nature of the campaigns meant that there was always going to be difficulty for whoever won, and the disillusionment from the whole process has added to the ‘japa’ wave,” he says.  

Nigeria’s economy is also under pressure. The country faces an ongoing forex shortage, high inflation (hitting 22% last year) and a poorer population, as the number of Nigerians living in poverty grew by 35 million in 2022. 

Okolue said domestic problems are driving young people to look abroad for a better life. “That uncertainty is always there,” he says. “They would like to take this opportunity to move away from the crisis.”

@erdoona I finally get to use this sound. #fyp #fypviralシ #discovery #Japa #erdoona ♬ Celebrate The Good Times – ✨ F S ✨

Demand for higher education

Nigeria’s young people are among the worst hit by the country’s economic woes, with a youth unemployment rate of 43%. If those affected want to enrol in university and gain the qualifications needed to stand out in a crowded job market, it’s difficult to do so at home.

In Africa’s most populous country, the student-age population is increasing rapidly. According to a recent British Council report, the “subsequent surge in demand for university places over recent years has caused competition for limited places to increase markedly”. 

With limited capacity at home and ongoing industrial disputes interrupting the education of those who do get into the country’s universities, students are increasingly looking abroad for qualifications. 

“Nigeria’s historical ties to the UK and US mean they will remain far and away the most attractive destinations, but Canada and Australia are fast becoming desirable areas,” says Adekaiyaoja. “European centres of learning are becoming attractive and companies offering relocation to other African cities such as Nairobi, Accra and Johannesburg are heavily sought after.”

International policies

Students are also pulled to these destinations by attractive, student-friendly policies. The UK currently offers the golden combination of post-study work visas, dependant visas and work rights while studying. The decision about whether to study in the UK is simply a question of maths for many, say agents, with the cost of a one-year postgraduate course ultimately offset by two years of work. 

The UK’s visa system is also perceived to be more flexible than in the past. “It’s so seamless right now,” says Okolue. 

“It’s as if nobody cares,” Ude puts more bluntly, pointing to the number of students taking out short-term loans to bypass visa requirements. 

But changes to UK policy are expected imminently and students are watching developments closely. Following reports of a proposed plan to reduce the length of the graduate route, one Nigerian paper ran the headline: “Nigerian students in UK risk deportation”. 

As rumours like this swirl, students are keen to get in before the country takes any drastic measures. “We’ve had a lot of increase in applications and this is because students want to put in the application before… they announce the change in policy,” says Okolue. 

“Students are quoting all the news articles in the world,” says Ude “telling us they’ve heard about it and they are panicking and that’s why you see some of the surge, because some of them are trying to get in before it starts.” 

If the UK does introduce more stringent measures, will fewer Nigerians choose to study there? 

Okolue believes changes to dependant visas could have a short-term impact on the numbers, but will make little difference in the long term. “The dependants can always come on a visiting visa to see their loved ones, then come back,” he said. Ude agrees that the Nigerian market will continue to grow either way, predicting that more Nigerians will find the money to enrol as students instead of migrating as dependants. 

Changes to the graduate route are likely to have a bigger impact on the numbers, agents say. Students would be likely to switch to other destinations that offer longer post-study work visas, such as Australia and Canada. 

Is japa a trend?  

Beyond generating noise, japa content on social media is making the study abroad process more transparent. “People hear about it, but they don’t know how to go about it,” says Okolue. “So the social media platforms gives people experience, people tell their stories, or people tell their progress reports on how they’ve been trying to make applications to study abroad.”

But, as Adekaiyaoja points out, no matter how much content there is online, not everyone can ‘japa’. Migrating comes with high costs and often lengthy immigration processes. 

And, while japa content may go viral, in reality migration patterns in Nigeria are “nothing new”, says Adekaiyaoja. He argues that this particular wave has received more attention than past ones because it is so well documented – and that’s not necessarily a good thing. 

“Ultimately, and sadly, this brain drain will only serve to deprive the country of necessary talent and manpower at a time when all hands are needed to try and push the country forward.” 

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Pearson has made the decision to sell its online management services platform for universities to global private equity firm Regent.

Pearson Online Learning Services will change hands amid the conclusion of a “strategic review” of the business, which began in August 2022, for a deferred sum.

No upfront fee was mentioned in the announcement.

It comes after Pearson announced an 11% rise in profit in its year-end financial report, reaching £456 million in 2022.

The sale will take place over six years, with Regent paying Pearson 27.5% of POLS’ adjusted earnings each year, followed by a further payment of 27.5% of any proceeds related to POLS after the sale is complete.

In response to the latest developments, it said the acquisition of POLS by Regent was “likely to be immaterial” in its 2023 operating profits, but that this will be dependent on when the transaction is finalised.

“This is another example of the growth in acquisitions of online education companies,” observed education consultant Neil Mosley, posting on LinkedIn.

“It will be interesting to see potential impacts – if there are any…”

“[The sale] demonstrates further progress in reshaping Pearson’s portfolio towards future growth opportunities centred around lifelong learning,” Pearson’s announcement commented.

Education consultant Phil Hill also posted about the acquisition on LinkedIn, saying the move appears to be a “distressed sale” that is “likely to accelerate cost-cutting (i.e. layoffs)”.

“This is not a sale from a position of strength”

“Speculation here, but this is not a sale from a position of strength,” Hill commented.

Despite generating £155m of revenue in 2022, POLS also saw “adjusted” operating losses of £26m. Its gross and net assets as of the end of 2022 were £113m and £78m respectively.

Pearson stated that the business saw £52m in statutory losses before tax. This included restructuring, intangible assets and finance charges, and it also reported some £5m in now-eliminated stranded costs.

Based in Los Angeles, Regent LP, a global private equity firm, has a portfolio that includes brands across different industries, such as Club Monaco, Sassoon and Wonderbra.

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Private colleges in British Columbia, Canada, are using “unethical business practices” to refuse international students refunds, according to a charity.

One Voice Canada, a non-profit organisation that helps vulnerable international students, told CBC News that in cases where students wanted to leave and get a refund, colleges are pushing back and, in some cases, have been deceitful.

A report from CBC highlighted issues at Vancouver Career College and Granville College. Both institutions have been accused of misleading students and making it difficult for them to get refunds.

One student joined Granville College, enrolling in a hospitality management program, but she said her hour-long classes only lasted 10 minutes.

The student decided to withdraw 10 days after her program started. The student had reportedly paid $11,000 in tuition fees, but was offered a $900 refund by the college.

The college claimed she had only paid a portion of her tuition fees, although a receipt showed she had paid in full.

In a statement responding to these allegations, Granville College told CBC News the college has “addressed her concerns and settled this issue amicably”.

CBC spoke with another student from Punjab, India, who enrolled at Vancouver Career College for a six-month program.

The student’s classes were supposed to last four hours but soon after the course began, the class time started shrinking.

The college accepted her withdrawal, but demanded the student pay the remainder of her tuition fees, which came to $9,704.28, saying that she had taken more than 30% of the course, and so had to pay 100% of the tuition fees.

The college claimed that the refund was based on the student’s last day of attendance, June 24, not the date she requested a withdrawal a week earlier.

It also calculated the refund using the scheduled class time instead of actual instruction time, according to CBC’s report.

CBC News contacted Vancouver Career College with these allegations but was told that “due to privacy, [they] do not comment on individual student information”.

The student took the case to B.C.’s Private Training Institutions Branch, which is a part of the Ministry of Advanced Education.

The PTIB ruled in June 2022, that Vancouver Career College had “misled the complainant in relation to the number of hours of instruction provided”.

The decision meant the student did not have to pay the $9,704.28 the college claimed she owed.

“In the context of misleading expectations promoted by education agents, diminishing quality of education offerings experienced on arrival, and also general problems with immigration processing timelines, there should be no surprise that refund requests are on the rise,” immigration consultant and policy analyst Earl Blaney told The PIE News.

“In large part students are not the cause for blame”

“The decision to penalise students for such requests, by making such requests inaccessible or by levying outrageous fee penalties is misguided, in large part students are not the cause for blame.”

Blaney said that if the institution students arrived at lived up to their expectations in the first place, there would be much less demand for refund requests.

“It is clear the provincial government authorities (responsible for maintaining ‘Brand Canada’ quality through their role in curating respective provincial DLI registration lists), have standards that have lapsed well below consumer expectations of what Brand Canada should represent,” Blaney added.

The PIE understands that B.C’s Ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills is aware of the concerns raised about the two institutions and that they will look further into allegations any time student protection concerns are raised.

The ministry of Post-Secondary Education and Future Skills is currently working to make sure government can respond quickly if private institutions promote or offer substandard education to students.

It plans to continue to develop protections for international students that support their fair treatment across the sector and look forward to having more to say as that work progresses.

The ministry has also developed a student-centred and sustainable strategic International Education Framework, which will be available soon.

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Webster University’s eighth annual DEI conference earlier this month focused on taking equity work to “the next level” during a time of transition in the US.

Over the past year, many HEIs in the US have begun to experience “unprecedented threats” to DEI progress, according to Webster. As such, conference organisers sought to deeply explore topics such as health and healing, immigrants and refugees, gender and sexual identity, equity in education, neurodiversity, accessibility and diverse workforce development.

Panellists provided resources, strategies, case studies, and best practices to “help move individuals and organisations from ally-ship to systemic change”.

Former recipient of Webster’s Gamechanger of the Year Award, Michelle Zauner delivered the opening keynote presentation, discussing her New York Times best-selling memoir and upcoming motion picture, Crying in H Mart, in which she describes growing up as a Korean-American and establishing her own identity.

“For many years I didn’t have someone who looked like me who could support and help me advance”

The journey of international students was highlighted in the session, Coming to America: Meeting the Needs of Our Immigrant Neighbors, where panellists discussed myths and misconceptions about the immigrant experience in the US.

Igho Ekakitie, founder of igowithIGHO, shared stories from his own journey of becoming a permanent resident of the US, including challenges he still experiences regarding equity.

Ekakitie created a podcast to amplify the voices of international students in order to promote interest in international experiences.

In discussing the myths about immigrants, Ekakitie said, “There’s a difference between what you’ve heard and the person standing before you.”

Nisha Ray-Chaudhuri, visiting assistant professor at Webster University, agreed, cautioning against maintaining preconceived stereotypes. “Don’t make assumptions about the people [you] meet. Ask them what is it that [they] need. Any assumption that we make might come off as being insensitive.”

DEI in the workplace took centre stage at the conference as experts discussed current challenges and what the future may hold for diversity efforts at work.

Ashley Storman, manager of DEI at New Honor Society said, “Being familiar with the issues and concerns, it became a personal mission for me to implement programs and strategies so people of colour can show up [to work] as their authentic selves.”

Storman suggested that leaders who aim to implement DEI initiatives in their workplace begin with a “listening tour”, composed of qualitative interviews to learn how employees explain the current company culture.

She cautioned against surface-level efforts, such as those often surrounding history months and cultural celebrations. “We need to get deeper if we want to change the culture.”

Ebony Jones, director, of inclusion and diversity at Accenture, a federal services consulting group, spoke about why workplace-endorsed DEI initiatives matter.

“I know the importance of representation. For many years I didn’t have someone who looked like me who could support and help me advance, so I wanted to create opportunities for myself and others in the firm.

“DEI is a journey and culture change is very hard.” She advised implementing DEI principles in all aspects of the workplace “so it becomes just how we do business,” adding, “that’s when you start to have culture changes,” Jones proffered.

Jones argued that while, as a nation, the US has “made great strides [in DEI], we still have a long way to go”.

During the three days of sessions, Webster announced the winners of two awards for individuals who have championed DEI efforts in a unique way. The 2023 Game Changer of the Year Award was presented to Quinton Ward, co-creator of Speak Up St. Louis. And the Champion for All Award was presented to to NY Times best-selling author, Lyah LaFlore-Ituen.

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The British Council is committed to supporting and fostering the culture of entrepreneurship and innovation in higher education institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa.

This led to the launch of an ambitious collaboration and learning platform in 2021, the Innovation for African Universities, with a mandate to support universities in building their entrepreneurship ecosystems by establishing the necessary resources, structures, and policies, working in partnership with UK universities and industry partners.

The IAU has been implemented in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa through partnerships with UK institutions, reaching over 7,000 beneficiaries.

On the back of this, a report study on the mapping of the South Africa public universities innovation ecosystem, has revealed that the commercialisation of non-STEM research outputs is an area that is often ignored or unexploited within the majority of South African universities.

The mapping study was commissioned by Universities’ South Africa under the Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education initiative, supported by the British Council as a strategic partner and executed by Oxentia, UK-based innovation management and technology commercialisation consultancy as a delivery partner between 2021 and early 2022.

The findings indicated that the South African innovation ecosystem is a relatively well developed, rapidly changing landscape, with pockets of excellence and good practice, and huge potential to contribute to economic growth through university research commercialisation activities.

As encouraging as this sounds, commercialisation of humanities, arts and social science research was reported to be a missing piece in the current research commercialisation puzzle!

The report presented a set of recommendations for three audiences – government, universities, and other supporting entities to stimulate commercialisation and impact generation from research outputs. One of the recommendations to the supporting entities was to stimulate and support Humanities, Arts and Social Science research commercialisation.

Why shift the focus to HASS research commercialisation:

1. Rising unemployment rates and other related economic and social challenges call for a radical shift in how research is conceptualised and executed, impact generation should not be optional, research should be conducted with the aim of contributing to societal impact.

2. Equipping students and researchers with the skills to upscale non-STEM related research outputs to services, products, and businesses could significantly increase the generation of SDG-aligned research outputs with not just intellectual value, but economic and social value as well.

3. Transforming graduates into job creators and not just job seekers requires a focus on all disciplines, not just STEM.

In the South African public universities innovation ecosystem mapping study, we administered a survey which confirmed that most universities had established systems, mechanisms, and processes in their institutions to support STEM research commercialisation.

Commercialisation of Humanities, Arts and Social Science Research on the other hand was not common. This was due to several reasons including lack of non-STEM research in some institutions, a lack of knowledge on how to commercialise non-STEM research outputs and non-STEM research being done, but not seen as a priority.

British Council-led initiative developed in response to these gaps

In response to the study findings, the British Council, with support from Universities’ South Africa, Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education program and the Human Sciences Research Council, spearheaded a pilot initiative.

The Strengthening Commercialisation Skills program aims to upskill academics from non-STEM disciplines, and technology transfer professionals with the skills needed to catalyse and stimulate the commercialisation of research.

“The secondary aim of the program is to unlock opportunities for UK and South Africa academics”

The secondary aim of the program is to unlock opportunities for UK and South Africa academics and technology transfer professionals to collaborate to advance non-STEM research commercialisation.

Seven pairs of academics and technology transfer professionals were recruited through a competitive process that required them to demonstrate that they had a project, idea or research that had potential to be scaled up for impact or could be commercialised.

Through a virtual training and mentorship program, participants could exchange knowledge on commercialising non-STEM research outputs, culminating in a five-day residential program that took place in the UK recently, in February 2023.

We wanted to bring together a dynamic group with varied levels of experience. We knew the training and mentorship aspects could have been delivered via ZOOM or TEAMS, but wanted to ensure the dynamic program made the most of networking and immersion in the ecosystems of Cambridge and Oxford universities. It offered:

1. knowledge exchange with like-minded colleagues with the same expertise in HASS, however from a UK context.

2. Immersion in some of the UK ecosystems

3. Strengthening of collaborations between Tech transfer function and academics

In the coming months, as an output of the pilot project, a set of contextualised guidelines for the Commercialisation of non-STEM research applicable to the Sub-Saharan Africa context will be published.

Additionally, a set of train the trainer workshops and dissemination events will be delivered by the participants to share their knowledge and continue the advocacy work within their institutions.

About the author: Meekness Lunga is senior regional programme manager for Higher Education – SSA at British Council.

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