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Educators worry about trade war and political tensions with China

There are roughly 600,000 Chinese students studying abroad and they add a lot of money into the coffers of colleges and universities. In Canada, roughly one in three international students is Chinese. An Illinois college was so worried about the fallout of the Trump trade war that they actually took out an insurance policy with Lloyds of London.

For a short article that has some really fun details on this, read more in the Vancouver Sun.

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Where do Canadian PSE institutions revenues come from?

Statistics Canada has reported that revenue for all 166 public Canadian colleges, cegeps and polytechnics rose 0.2 billion in 2016/17 over the previous academic year. As provincial funding has remained flat for several years, the increase in revenue is due to larger tuition being collected. There has been an increase of 27.2% in tuition since 2012/2013. It is important to note that a large part of this increase in tuition revenue is due to the 55% increase in international students.

Read more from Statistics Canada.

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Rise in fraudulent international student applications at UPEI

The University of Prince Edward Island saw a large increase in the number of fraudulent international student applications in the 2017-2018 school year, up to 50 while the number was only 10 two years ago. The director of recruitment at the university attributes 60 per cent to people who wanted to study but did not have the grades needed to enter the university, while he says the rest are people who are trying to gain access to Canada in order to work illegally.

Read more on CBC.

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Poor English ability in cohort of Indian students with high IELTS scores

400 who have been granted admission to Niagara College for January 2019 based on IELTS test results obtained in India, have been told by the college that they must retake their IELTS test or possibly lose their admission. This decision at the college follows the finding that the number of “at risk” students went from 150 last year to 300 in the fall term. The college subsequently performed an in-house English test and found that 200 did not have the proficiency they needed to pass their coursework and that 80% of those students had taken their IELTS test in India at test centers run by the Australian-based IDP Education.

Read more in the Hamilton Spectator.

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Japan introduces AI robots to help children learn English

In an effort to improve the spoken and written English skills of Japanese students, the government of Japan has launched a pilot program that will see 500 AI robots introduced in schools next year.

Part of the appeal of the robots is that they are more affordable than hiring native speakers to teach or giving local teachers the language training they would need to be able to teach English.

Read more in the Japan Times.

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Number of international students rising for two decades, domestic student numbers stagnate

Statistics Canada recently announced that the number of international students in Canadian postsecondary institutions has been on the rise for two decades. Int he 2016/2017 school year, international student numbers increased by 11.7% while the number of domestic students was almost unchanged.

The majority of international students continue to be from China, but the gains are attributed to the large increase in Indian students.

Read more.

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Two new pathways for international students announced in Manitoba

Manitoba plans to attract more immigrants to the province through the International Student Entrepreneur Pathway and Graduate Internship Pathway.

“By providing students a fast track to nomination for permanent residency, we hope to attract and retain more talented innovators and entrepreneurs from all over the world,” said Education and Training Minister Kelvin Goertzen. “International students bring new ideas, global connections and an entrepreneurial spirit to our province and when they create opportunities for themselves, Manitoba becomes more competitive and innovative.”

Read the Province of Manitoba press release.

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Professor argues that university seats for sale at UBC, but not to domestic students

Peter Wylie, an economics professor at the University of British Columbia, argues that, as long as it is believed they can pass, international students with lower grades are admitted over domestic students. The governments of British Columbia and Canada have encouraged the University (and other post-secondary institutions) to admit as many international students as possible “becoming an important instrument of immigration, export and labour market policy, regardless of them meeting the admissions grades required of domestic students.”

Read more in the Vancouver Sun.