English Central Blog – Page 2

15% tuition increase for international students in computer science program at the University of Waterloo

Early on this year, the Ontario government announced a 10% tuition decrease for post-secondary students. There was no increase in funds going to post-secondary institutions to make up for the decrease in tuition they will receive, so it is no surprise that some institutions set their eyes on international students to balance the books.

The University of Waterloo is increasing their international student fees from 3 to 15%, depending on the program. The international students in their computer science program will be on the high end of this, seeing their fees rise by 10k next year.

University of Victoria students protest international student tuition hike

Approximately 100 students forced themselves into a board of governors meeting at the University of Victoria to protest what they call a “two-tiered” system where international students pay higher tuition than domestic students.

School boards are also courting international students to cover funding shortfalls

The title says it all… well, enough from us anyway.

Vietnam the fastest-growing market for Canadian education sector

While the number of Indian students studying in Canada has surpassed the number of Chinese, the growth of Vietnamese students is stunning. 2017 saw an 89% increase, while 2018 saw another 46% increase over 2017 with over 20,000 students. The four year increase from 2015 to 2018 was 419%!

Female foreign students face sexual harassment

The Vancouver Sun reports that there are many female international students, particularly from the Punjab region of India, who are dealing with sexual harassment from landlords and exploitation from employers. These women come from a poor region and in many cases their family has sold everything they have to send them to Canada. While here, the money they came with often turns out to be insufficient and they feel the need to make additional money. They therefore often work more than their work permits allow, offer sexual services to landlords and get involved in the drug trade (this is true of male students as well). Afraid of being deported, they do not report these problems.

New app uses AI and voice recognition to improve pronunciation

Apparently Vietnam is a new hot spot for tech investment and one company which has received millions of dollars of investment is Elsa. Launched in 2016, it boasts over 4 million users in over 100 countries. Van Vu, a Vietnamese woman now living in the United States, is a co-founder and the CEO of the company. She struggled with being understood when she first came to the US and that was part of the inspiration for coming up with Elsa.

Indian students now outnumber Chinese on Canadian campuses

Last year, there were 172,000 Indian students with study visas in Canada while there were 142,000 Chinese students. The number of Chinese students last year was up by 30%, which points to the incredible resent surge of Indian students. The cheaper Canadian dollar helps, but more important is the greater ease in receiving work permits and a path to citizenship. Canada has Donald Trump to thank, partly at least, as the US is proposing stricter issuance of foreign-worker visas.

Relying on international students is dangerous, says professor

With the recent diplomatic spats with China and Saudi Arabia, Canadian post-secondary institutions are increasingly aware of how vulnerable they are to global affairs. A professor at UPEI says that with 25% of their student body being international students from China, an escalation of tensions threatens the finances of the institution and the local economy. He makes the sensible argument that diversification is essential so that should one nation should cease to send students, universities and the local businesses that serve them will not be threatened.

Thousands of new English teachers being recruited by Taiwan

Taiwan’s prime minister has the goal of making Taiwan bilingual (Mandarin and English) and as part of this goal, the country is looking to improve the English of its teachers as well as to recruit more native English speaking teachers.

Inlingua schools in Florida abruptly close

In November, nine Inlingua schools abruptly closed due to bankruptcy of the local operator. Over 500 students were stranded and staff was left unpaid.