Would B.C.’s forest sector allow a few rogue companies to put the sector’s global reputation on the line by shaking down Asian customers with sky-high prices for shoddy product?
Not a chance.
But the union representing B.C.’s college instructors says that’s exactly what’s happening in the province’s exploding market for foreign students seeking post-secondary education.
Students are paying top dollar for English-language training in pre-admission programs that promise automatic transfer to B.C.’s universities, but they’re not getting what they pay for.
At the end of their training, their tuition fees are paid, but they’re still not ready to study.
The choice for universities and colleges is stark: lower the standards or lose the tuition. Many are choosing to cut standards.
The stakes are enor-mous.
According to a 2009 study by Roslyn Kunin and Associates for Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, Canada’s post-secondary foreign students spend $6.5 billion annually in the country, more than we earn from lumber exports ($5.1 billion) or coal ($6 billion).
About two-thirds of the students – more than 50,000 – study here in B.C.
“There’s a global battle for the premium tuition paid by these overseas students,” said Cindy Oliver, president of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators.
“The students and their families are making enormous sacrifices, in many cases, and paying top dollar to study here in B.C. The revenue is critical to many of our public colleges and universities in the face of provincial funding pressures.
“But now we’re seeing a two-tier education system emerge as our B.C. institutions do whatever it takes to keep the foreign revenue coming, regardless of the impact on students or our international reputation.”
Oliver’s union, which represents college and technical institute instructors in the private and public sectors, has raised the alarm before when poorly regulated private post-secondary colleges went bankrupt, stranding students and staining B.C.’s reputation in many Asian countries.
Now, Oliver says, the scramble for foreign tuition is undermining standards in the post-secondary institutions from which the students are hoping to graduate.
The problem starts with the language skills of the students, many of whom are academically qualified to study here but lack basic English competency.
A new global industry has sprung up to teach these English skills through “pathways” programs that promise graduates automatic admission to universities or colleges if they complete the course.
Universities and colleges from Australia to the United Kingdom are on the “pathways” bandwagon as the only way they can ensure the foreign students are really ready for admission. Of course, more tuition fees are required.
The problem, says Oliver, is that many students are “graduating” from the pathways programs with their English skills still far below par, despite paying hefty fees.
The result: further remedial classes in the receiving institutions, which have not only guaranteed admission, but have also booked the tuition in their budgets.
“This is wrong every way we look at it,” said Oliver. “These students need basic competency to succeed. They’re paying very hefty fees to get it. The standards need to be clear and firmly applied.
“But if the students still can’t learn in the college setting, they should not be admitted. It’s outrageous to turn a blind eye, cash their cheques and hope everything turns out for the best.”
Foreign students have become more than an export market for B.C.’s education system. They’re a source of skilled labour, as well.
Now, under the Canadian Experience Class program of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, foreign students may be fast-tracked for residency and landed immigrant status.
Premier Christy Clark has promised to increase the number of foreign students by 50% in four years. (In the same announcement, she proposed a new council on international education, although one already exists.)
For the long-term health of the education sector, it would be better to promise quality, not quantity. Fewer students, better outcomes – that’s product we should be able to sell indefinitely. •
