Internationally-renowned business school INSEAD has announced a subscription mobile application for anyone interested in pursuing a lifelong learning educational experience.

The INSEAD Learning Hub platform offers the possibility of exploring the school’s global community, enabling users to gain access to content from faculty members and alumni.

Learning materials will be specifically targeted and personalised according to the interests of users.

Already known as one of the world’s leading business schools, with campuses in Paris, Singapore and Abu Dhabi, a research centre in Israel and an office in New York City, the institution sought to develop a platform to allow students to continue their learning experience while still being engaged in their professional career.

“By putting INSEAD in your pocket, it gives learners access to impactful tools to reinvent themselves, creates opportunities for engagement; and empowers learners to think, act and work differently,” remarked Peter Zemsky, INSEAD’s deputy dean and dean of innovation.

“Its unique design is an excellent fit for busy executives looking to build the skills and competencies needed to thrive and drive impact today and tomorrow.”

The subscription model is made of two phases. The first, running until Summer 2023, includes free access for executives, managers and professionals outside of the INSEAD community to the platform’s learning content, with the possibility of enrolling in customised education programs.

“We believe people learn a lot outside courses”

The second phase envisions free access to standard content and an annual subscription fee to get access to personalised materials, live sessions with academics and practitioners and networking opportunities with certain learning communities.

“We believe people learn a lot outside courses as well, from thoughtful pieces of content in the form of articles, videos, podcasts, ted talks etc., and we want the hub to tap into that world of knowledge and insights. This would complement INSEAD’s offerings of structured learning programs,” Swapnil Chugh, INSEAD chief learning innovation officer, told The PIE.

“There is a rising skill gap in the world as well and the content and communities on the hub will help bridge that skill gap, along with our INSEAD programs. Through the engagement and activity on the hub, we want to enable people to have pathways to skill-based micro credentials and certificates within the INSEAD ecosystem,” Chugh added.

The post INSEAD launches innovative learning app appeared first on The PIE News.

The Canada Border Services Agency is investigating a scheme in which Indian agents provided students with fake college acceptance letters to obtain study permits and gain entrance to the country, a representative told The PIE News.

The news comes as Colleges Ontario, the sector association representing public colleges, has finally moved to crack down on unscrupulous agents and offer more support for international students.

Students caught up in the fraud could be deported from Canada or face criminal charges, said Rebecca Purdy, senior spokesperson for the agency.

“There are a number of active investigations into cases of misrepresentation”

“The Canada Border Services Agency can confirm that there are a number of active Immigration and Refugee Protection Act investigations into cases of misrepresentation, including those related to study permits,” she said.

“As these are ongoing investigations, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”

It is not clear how many Indian students are involved in the fraud. CBC News is reporting that there were “dozens” of students, while one news outlet in India said there were 700. Neither provided a source for these statements.

Under the scheme, an agent in India would create a fake college admission letter to public colleges in Ontario, including Loyalist College in Belleville and Lambton College in Sarnia. The students would use the phoney letters to obtain a study permit and get into the country.

However, they could not study in the college designated on their study permit because the school had no record of their application. Instead, after their arrival in Canada the agent would redirect them to a private college, such as Alpha College of Business and Technology in Toronto.

CBC, which has previously investigated unethical international student recruitment practices, interviewed students for Fifth Estate who said they thought the admission letters were legitimate and blamed the mess entirely on their agent.

Karanveer Singh is one such student. He told the CBC that his disabled father sold his farm to generate $25,000 to pay for his education in Canada. Singh’s agent gave him a letter of acceptance to Loyalist College. However, after he arrived in Canada, the agent told him he would have to switch to Canada College, a private school in Montreal. He graduated from his two-year business course in 2021.

“I didn’t know a fake document was used in my student visa application”

However, when he applied for a post-graduate work permit, the CBSA said the letter of acceptance to Loyalist was fraudulent.

“I didn’t know a fake document was used in my student visa application,” he told CBC. “It wasn’t until I received that letter from the CBSA that I found out the letter was fraudulent.”

Last week, Colleges Ontario, which represents 23 public colleges in the province, finally announced standards after outcries by international students about sketchy agent practices, housing shortages and a lack of student support services.

Colleges Ontario says it is implementing agent standards that align with similar ones in the UK and New Zealand. The new rules require agents to complete a recognised agent-training program. It also states that colleges will provide help for international students to support their mental health and to find affordable housing and employment.

The post Investigations could see students face deportation from Canada appeared first on The PIE News.

Language and employability skills provider Twin has launched a volunteering program to meet demand for work experience after Brexit rules took away opportunities for European students.

The volunteering program, lasting up to six-weeks, is open to any students on standard, six-month UK visitor visas, and offers experiences in retail, the arts and culture, administration, sports, animal care, marketing and more.

“The level of demand for internships for the UK has remained high despite Brexit, but the available routes to come to the UK to gain experience have been seriously limited,” James Ong-Fox, project manager at Twin Group, explained.

Pre-Brexit, under freedom of movements in the EU, students from the continent could come to the UK to work. Embassies in London have previously raised the issue.

“The opportunity under the standard visitor route to volunteer for up to 30 days can in many ways offer a replacement experience to that of an internship,” Ong-Fox continued.

Soft skills, such as communication and interpersonal skills, are obtained during internships with charities and non-profit organisations.

The company noted that the program is open to any student with a standard visitor visa.

“Any student that comes to the UK, even if they are not from Europe, with the Standard Visitor visa, can volunteer in a non-profit organisation for up to six weeks,” Selim Kivcak, sales operations team leader at Twin Group, told The PIE.

Students at Twin’s Eastbourne and Greenwich schools can join volunteering placements, with the London location offering experiences in retail, the arts and culture, administration, sports, animal care, marketing. Eastbourne is more limited, with specialist retail opportunities available.

“We are finding growing awareness about the possibility to volunteer in the UK”

In 2022, the program saw over 450 volunteers and numbers are expected to grow.

“Compared to Ireland, our internship numbers are lower in the UK (we had over 800 interns come to Dublin in 2022) but we are finding growing awareness about the possibility to volunteer in the UK has resulted in more students coming back to London after the drop in demand due to Brexit,” Ong-Fox explained.

The provider has always sought to “grow opportunity” for customers, be that in a Turing program in Spain, language students completing short careers skills courses or university students seeking experience in companies, he continued.

“Parents and students are making big investments in their education, and have an expectation that they will be prepared for the work they are studying to do on graduation,” Ong-Fox noted.

“We focus on the soft skills that could change a person’s early career opportunity from average to extraordinary, by building skills and confidence through age-related career skills role play activities such as mock interviews, job search techniques and the all-important first interview experience.

“It’s about building confidence, skills and experience of the workplace side by side with academic learning.”

The post Twin adds volunteering to UK portfolio appeared first on The PIE News.

Canada will allow international graduates with recently expired or close-to-expiring work permits to stay in the country for an additional 18 months, the government announced today.

Starting April 6, current post-graduate work permit holders will be able to opt into extending their visas. Additionally, foreign nationals whose PGWP expired in 2023 and those who already extended or were eligible to extend their visas under a similar policy announced in 2022 will be able to apply for an extension.  

PGWP Extension !

We are extending the ability to work for PGWP holders, including those whose work permits have recently expired.

As of April 6, if your PGWP is valid or has recently expired you can apply to extend your ability to work in Canada by up to 18 months. pic.twitter.com/TF2m0iNEFg

— Sean Fraser (@SeanFraserMP) March 17, 2023

The announcement is the latest in a series of policy developments aimed at tackling Canada’s labour shortages. 

“We need to use every tool in our toolbox to support employers who continue to face challenges in hiring the workers they need to grow,” said Sean Fraser, minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship. 

“At the same time, we’re providing international graduates whose work permit is expiring or has expired with some additional time to stay in Canada to gain valuable work experience and potentially qualify to become a permanent resident.”

Normally, PGWP holders need to apply for a different type of work permit if they wish to remain in the country after their visa expires. 

Larissa Bezo, president and CEO of the Canadian Bureau for International Education, said the organisation ‘warmly welcomes’ the news.

“Today’s announcement serves to underscore Canada’s desire to retain high-skilled talent from coast to coast to coast,” she said. “The extension of post-graduate work permits for up to 18 months creates further opportunity for our international students to establish meaningful connections across our communities and to gain valuable Canadian work experience.”

“We need to use every tool in our toolbox to support employers”

Philipp Reichert, director of global engagement at University of British Columbia Okanagan, said it is a “great update” that will “help any current holders continue to work and gain experience and potentially then qualify for the various PR stream options”.

It also “relieves a lot of stress for many of them with the interim work authorisation”, he said.

At the end of 2022, there were more than 286,000 international graduates in Canada with a valid post-graduation work permit. 

IRCC estimates that approximately 127,000 PGWPs expire in 2023. Of these, 67,000 have already applied for permanent residence and will not need to extend their work permit through this initiative.

Eligible visa holders will receive a message from IRCC instructing them to log into their immigration account and opt in. 

Extending permits will give international graduates the chance to gain additional Canadian work experience, which can provide a pathway to permanent residency in the country. 

IRCC predicts that immigrants will soon represent 100% of the growth of the country’s labour force and that they could make up half of Canada’s total population within the next decade.

The country accepted a record 437,000 new permanent residents in 2022, but some have warned that Canada does not have the capacity for the number of international students who want to become Canadian residents.

The post Canada extends post-graduate work permits by 18 months appeared first on The PIE News.

The UK Boarding Schools’ Association has launched a due diligence service aimed at better supervising the recruitment process of international students.

In partnership with consulting and transparency firm Verisio, BSA will expand it services related to compliance requirements that it already provides to member and affiliated schools.

The agreement, with the consulting firm that specialises in reviewing supply-chain and business processes trying to detect any possible breach of rules, will help British boarding schools ensure admissions is in compliance with national and international legislative frameworks.

The BSA/Verisio Due Diligence Service will allow schools to “know who they are engaging in a relationship with, whether it is an agent, parent, donor or business partner,” Kate Hollyer, director of legal and public affairs at the BSA Group, told The PIE News.

“Based on the information that the BSA/Verisio report will provide, the educational institution can decide whether or not to pursue that relationship.

“This in turn demonstrates to the National Crime Agency and UKVI that the educational institution has a robust due diligence strategy regarding student recruitment,” she explained further.

Schools must carefully examine the sources of funding from international clients in order to detect that money has been obtained legitimately.

“Schools may inadvertently breach sanctions regulations”

In a statement released to announce the launch of the collaboration, BSA remarked that the recruitment of international students is beneficial to the British school sector as a whole.

It does, however, entail risks which should be “appropriately considered and mitigated through the admissions process”.

“It is possible that schools may inadvertently breach sanctions regulations and become exposed to significant reputational risks where the source of international funds is not being adequately reviewed,” the organisation said.

“Student sponsor schools also have a duty to ensure they are recruiting genuine international students, mitigating against the risk of exploitation and trafficking,” it added.

The service will also check global sanctions and political exposure in regards to the source of funds, as well as perform accurate checks on high-risk jurisdictions and provide final commentaries on the source of wealth.

The post UK: BSA launches due diligence on recruitment appeared first on The PIE News.

The UK remains the most attractive destination to Chinese students, according to new research by market intelligence firm BONARD.

In a survey of 350 Chinese students, 45% said they would consider studying in the UK now – Canada was in second place, with 39%, and Australia and the US were in joint fourth with 36%.

Compared to its survey in November 2022, demand for Australia has “gradually flattened” over time – and other English-speaking destinations have suffered as the world has opened up.

Non-traditional English-speaking destinations “no longer” have an advantage – as seen from a declining interest in countries like New Zealand and Singapore, which now only saw 22% and 20% interest respectively.

Amid the decision in January to stop recognising online credentials, Chinese students are continuing in earnest with their study abroad plans.

Only 7% of those surveyed said the news affected those plans, and that they now have to go abroad instead of studying online.

Some 35%, however, said the news had no effect on their plans, as they were wanting to study on a campus anyway.

“It’s really important that institutions support the student in many ways for them to get back to the [destination] countries as soon as possible,” said Grace Zhu, BONARD’s China branch director during a webinar explaining the survey and recent trends.

“These recent changes should encourage Chinese students to return abroad. Traditional destinations have gained out of these recent changes, now they are accessible again,”said Igor Skibickij, chief operations officer, BONARD.

Chinese student numbers in the US have been declining for some time, he noted, and the UK’s upward trend is one that “will probably continue”.

BONARD also surveyed 350 parents of K-12 international students and found that the UK is jointly the most popular destination with 40% considering it, along with Australia, with Canada hot on the tail.

The survey noted that the US was most often chosen by students as a destination for its facilities to help improve English skills.

The US, however, has fallen in popularity among parents who much prefer the UK for its English improvement facilities.

While Australia has seen a certain recovery in student numbers, both Australia and Canada have continued to see a decline in numbers.

The survey also noted that a popular reason for choosing Australia and New Zealand was through agency recommendations.

“It’s really important that institutions support the students… to get back to destinations”

“Agencies have also considered the current market trends and demand, and choose the countries due to many beneficial factors for Chinese students,” Zhu noted.

BONARD also found that agencies were responsible for around 60% of all bookings in China, meaning it remains the “number one channel to revitalise”, especially considering that in-person recruitment is reopening.

It also seems that Chinese student behaviour is increasingly leading to a return to China.

In a general outlook, Skibickij pointed out that the total number of students studying abroad in 2021 was just 12,500 more than the amount who graduated overseas and came back to China, with both figures just over a million.

“Those are all jobseekers that want to find quality work for the effort they put in overseas.

“It’s really important to understand how focused Chinese students are on employability prospects. That should be factored in when designing programs for China,” Skibickij explained.

The survey supports this, 34% of students said that their post-graduation plans had not been affected by pandemic control policy changes – and that they would still be returning to China to find work.

Only 10% are staying abroad for further study, and a mere 4% are staying abroad to find work.

Those whose plans had changed – 10% deciding to instead stay abroad to study, 2% to find work – were very much in the minority.

“It’s really important to understand how focused Chinese students are on employability”

More parents than students still harbour concerns about Covid – 40% of students said they were less concerned than before, but still had worries, while 51% of parents said the same thing, 10% of parents even said they were more concerned than before.

A notable trend the survey examined was also budget – and surprisingly, only one in five students said that their budget for study abroad had lowered. Some 57% said it hadn’t changed.

Parents were a similar story, with 57% also citing no change in their budget for their children’s studies, and 20% saying their budget was slightly lower – just 6% said it was much lower.

The post UK “still tops” study abroad destinations for Chinese students appeared first on The PIE News.

The UK government is looking to develop its expertise on China and Mandarin language skills as Downing Street refreshed its international defence and foreign policy.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak’s government said that after the Integrated Review in 2021, authorities have taken a number of steps to increase knowledge of and expertise on China, which it is now seeking to further.

Funding to build expertise on China in 2024 to 2025 will be doubled and Mandarin language skills boosted in order for the UK to be able to “engage with and understand China, while protecting national security”.

The government says the UK has become “increasingly concerned” about the military, diplomatic and economic activity of the Chinese Communist Party in the last two years, with some politicians heaping pressure on universities to cut ties with the country.

In the lead up to the Conservative leadership contest, Sunak has also called for Confucius Institutes in the UK to be closed.

A previous pilot program last year saw 170 civil servants trained in Mandarin, with 20 going to Taiwan to enrol on language immersion programs.

Chief executive of Universities UK, Vivienne Stern, recently told i that more UK study abroad and full degree students should be encouraged to spend time in China “to learn Chinese, and to spend time in Chinese institutions”, but emphasised for different reasons than suggested by Downing Street.

She said it was “important not to allow the anxieties over geopolitics to fundamentally interfere with the landscape of collaboration”.

“It’s more important than ever to build understanding and people-to-people links”

A spokesperson for Universities UK International said, “We welcome the UK government’s financial provision for Mandarin language teaching and increasing the UK’s ability to engage with and understand China.”

The post UK sector pushes for more China exchanges appeared first on The PIE News.

Colombian student numbers for Australia are now the highest in history, according to new figures in an update from Austrade.

Total numbers for Colombia at the end of 2022 came in at 28,437, with the inclusion of enrolments, commencements and year-to-date visa lodgement figures offshore.

In the snapshot update on Latin America’s international student market, Austrade noted its push to get prospective students back to in-person recruitment events across Latin America.

“2023 is shaping up as a very strong year for Australian student recruitment from the LATAM region,” the update said.

There were Study Australia pavilions at BMI recruitment fairs in Colombia, as well as in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico throughout October, as well as LAE agent events, all with Austrade supporting for “greater reach and influence”.

Another key trend looked at in the update was Brazil’s strong bounce-back after the pandemic.

It noted that while commencements had been “lagging behind” enrolments, this was due to high air fares which have since lowered – with a flight between São Paulo and Australia now under AUS$3,000.

At the end of 2022, the total number of students from Brazil in Australia was 24,554.

While Mexico’s numbers are not as strong in the general international student figures, Austrade has said that it continues to have “significant potential given student volumes in competitor markets”.

“2023 is shaping up as a very strong year”

For example, Canada has seen a meteoric rise in the number of Mexican students in the country in recent years. Some 10,405 students had study permits in 2022, a 10% rise on 2021.

“Driving the Study Australia brand further, the Austrade team has signed an agreement with the Bank of Mexico’s student loans provider, FIDERH for collaborative marketing and events,” the update added.

Austrade was also optimistic about Chile’s growth, after the country’s foreign student scholarship scheme, Becas Chile, reopened in 2022.

Globally, the scheme wasn’t getting the application numbers it did before the pandemic, but Austrade said Australia now has a “familiar presence” in the country, and implied current numbers should not deter stakeholders.

“[Australia] is in a strong position to compete in common sectors of interest, including mining and agriculture,” the update noted.

Peru’s association with Australia continues to be “strong”, due to the renewal of an Australian student loan option through the country’s national bank, BCP.

Both Peru and Paraguay’s scholarship functions with scholarships for Australian study, PRONABEC and BECAL, have confirmed a new intake of students and announced a call for new applications respectively.

The post Aus: Colombian student numbers “highest in history” appeared first on The PIE News.

Traditionally, study abroad involves the exchange of students over a semester or full academic year. As universities try to expand participation in mobility schemes, there is a need to diversify the meaning of studying abroad.

From a UK context, the full impact of Brexit is still yet to seen, as the process of looking again at exchange agreements is beginning – especially as the UK approaches the end of its 10 years in the Erasmus Plus program.

Previously, all our European agreements were Erasmus, so we must look at partnerships, evaluate them, and get them resigned. Furthermore, there are new GDPR legislations that are being implemented in the UK that will affect the way these agreements are developed.

Thus, the UK higher education sector must proactively maintain its position within the mobility arena.

Introducing the Turing Funding Scheme for study abroad as a replacement for Erasmus Plus has led to challenges.

The scheme is intended to cover living costs but, unlike Erasmus Plus, does not cover tuition. It also has a broader geographical scope as it’s not limited to Europe; students can travel worldwide.

As promising as the scheme appears, the application process for students and institutions is still cumbersome and needs to be embedded into the broader system. The minimum travel time requirement is one-month as part of Turing Funding. A month is a long time for a student to take off over the summer; therefore, the diversity of students and the range of opportunities available decreases.

At the University of Hull, we have bridged this gap by offering two-week summer opportunities, which we have developed in partnership with other universities, organisations and donors to help fund scholarships. We are currently exploring how to write it into our budgets. In general, universities will need to find new funding sources to support the maintenance and development of student mobility.

A vital aspect of the current student mobility climate is the myriad of post-Covid, economic and geopolitical factors that have increased the cost of living. This impacts the perceived importance and affordability of mobility for both institutions and students.

“There are fewer mobility places for students”

Scholarships and funding availability for students and institutions alike are fundamental for reviving the availability of student mobility opportunities. There are fewer mobility places for students, so universities must find efficient and effective ways to develop systems that can lead to more options.

The fragmented mobility systems need to scale and provide adequate student funding, with facilities and specific programs leading mobility partnerships. Consequently, universities need to reinvest in mobility systems that can promote innovation in exchange approaches. The sector should continue to embrace shorter-termer-term mobility opportunities increasing the diversification into summer schools, volunteering, field trips and study tours.

The University of Hull has intentionally sought to internationalise the UK campus. This has involved integrating the university’s growing international student population into how the institution works—creating opportunities for all students to have cultural exchanges and understand different ways of interacting and engaging with challenges.

The benefits of student mobility are necessary to enhance the student experience and develop employability skills.

Universities UK International shows the benefit of mobility, and in the last year or so, it has done reports on it. Short-term mobility can make a massive impact on students’ soft skills.

A better term than soft skills would be essential skills – curiosity, problem solving, all those things that will benefit students. Stats also show that mobility boosts employability.

Historically universities have put an awful lot of weight on the careers team. Especially for students from underrepresented and disadvantaged backgrounds, as there is a need to widen their mindsets.

But now the higher education sector needs to prioritise innovating and look for unconventional ways to expand student and staff engagement globally.

About the author: This is a sponsored post by Alice McLuckie, head of Global Experience, University of Hull. Alice has over a decade of experience working in Higher Education in the UK, specialising in student mobility opportunities. As Head of Global Experience, she oversees the team responsible for study abroad programs, short courses, summer schools, English language provision and internationalisation on campus.

The post What next for UK student mobility abroad post-Brexit? appeared first on The PIE News.