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EF best of major chains for gender pay equity

A study was recently conducted of pay along gender lines in the major international chains of private English schools. EF actually came out ahead with a 4% gap in favour of women. Furthermore, twice as many femals as male employees at EF received bonuses and those bonuses were on average 33% higher than the bonus that male employees earned.

Read more in the EL Gazette.

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Those pesky, ever-rising, international student fees

While there are often caps on the percentage that a domestic student’s tuition can increase from year to year (in Ontario, for example, it is capped at 3%), such caps are much less common when it comes to international student fees. There have been some rumblings lately, especially in British Columbia and Ontario, about how this is not right. A report recently released by the Ontario government says that it would like to see caps implemented on international student tuition increases.

Read more in The Globe and Mail.

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The troubles that come with bonanzas

International student enrolment bonanzas, that is. While many schools, especially in the US, are trying to cope with dwindling international student enrolments, some schools have the opposite problem… and it can be a problem.

Recently, for example, 75 students “just showed up,” according to College of New Caledonia president Henry Reiser. There was no availability left in the programs that the students had originally been accepted into. Apparently, because of the delays between being accepted into the college and in receiving visas, students general failure to pre-register in courses, and the requirement that students be enrolled full time in order to keep their visas, the students were left being told that their only option was to change their course of study.

Read more in the Prince George Citizen and even more in the Prince George Citizen.

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Issues faced by international students

We write this blog from the perspective of ELT professionals and most of our readers are teachers and other ELT professionals. It is always good to look at the issues in our industry from different perspectives. While most of us are in touch with students, we fully recommend reading this article on the CBC about the issues that international students face.

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Teaching Lexically shortlisted for ELTon Award

Hugh Dellar and Andrew Walkley’s Teaching Lexically (published by DELTA and distributed in the US and Canada by English Central) has been shortlisted for the 2018 ELTons in the “Innovation in Teacher Resources” category.

Teaching Lexically shows what a lexical view of language looks like, and explores how it differs from a more traditional “grammar + words” view. It then considers what implications such a view might have for classroom practice. At the heart of Teaching Lexically are three main ideas: grammar and context are both taught better in combination, context is absolutely central, and classrooms need to be input-rich (and input must be useful at that).

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An argument against prioritizing international students

Protectionist voices are not lacking in Canada. A recent article in the Financial Post argues that Canada should stop pursuing the cash cow of international students and instead focus on educating Canadians for the jobs that we will need filled.

While the article is worth reading, some statements stand out as rather ignorant and fearful, such as this one:

Canada must identify those credentials and skills that are strategically important to meeting the needs of the future economy such as science, technology, engineering, and computer science. These courses must be offered to Canadians only and not to outsiders who will take these skills home and build their economies in order to compete against Canada.

Presumably the author has not read the RBC report Humans Wanted. She fails to mention that post-secondary iunstitutions are insufficiently funded and therefore have put increasing emphasis on recruiting international students in order to stay afloat.

Read more (and come up with more points to argue).

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The US is not alone: UK is also falling behind in international students

It is becoming a bit of a stale story by this point, but we can’t help but notice any new reports coming out about how international students are increasingly turning towards Canada as their destination of choice. Undoubtedly, our weak dollar and our renowned openness towards immigration and tolerance of different cultures, as well as our exceptional education system can be thanked for the trend.

To learn how Canada is now displacing the UK in many areas to become the second most favored destination for international students, click here to read an article in the University World News.