Page 9 - ELG1601 Jun Issue 437

Elquality analysis

2016 • An EL Gazette supplement: English language and international education

All systems ELgo!

British CounCil inspec- location, providing information Estyn for Wales and Education parison to other major cities
tion reports will probably never about the destination itself and scotland. According to the type worldwide.’ on Elgo we use
top the ranks of international how safe it is. users are able to of child safeguarding procedures ticks to display this data – five
bestsellers. however, they are organise a whole study holiday, implemented and how effective ticks indicate the most peaceful
hugely popular among the EL with the added bonus of find- they are according to inspections, destinations, one tick the least.
Gazette editorial team – so much ing out everything they need to we give centres between one and Price: We already knew that
so that we have launched a new know about the real quality of three shields. Boarding schools high quality doesn’t necessarily
website based on their content. their chosen institution. are assigned a fourth shield as mean high price. on Elgo users
our new website Elgo is a here is a round-up of the three they have to abide by the national can discover this for themselves
free online service that ranks main information categories on minimum standards for boarding by filtering their search accord-
all British-Council-accredited Elgo besides quality, and how schools, which prescribe much ing to their selected price range
schools in the uK. We give each we investigated them. stricter rules. safety: the (in euro symbols) and quality (in
Courtesy Wimbledon School of English strengths awarded in its inspec- which will be updated soon, we May Gazette, is often wrongly while. We had a team of mys-
Child safeguarding: in our new
centre a quality score that we
stars).
Destination
Collecting price data took a
system of child safeguarding,
calculate from the number of
uK, as we discussed in the
tion report minus any noted
will look into three areas: police
tery shoppers calling centres
regarded as a dangerous country.
needs for improvements.
checks of staff and main carer of
and desk researchers checking
Data can debunk the doubts, and
prices online, but still sometimes
for this reason we used a very
host families, safe recruitment
the British Council scheme is
the only one that covers all types
procedures, and safeguarding
couldn’t find what we were
comprehensive source of infor-
looking for. We’re still working
mation: the Global Peace index,
training. there are many accredi-
of English language course pro-
schools, universities and further
tute of Economics and Peace
schemes that inspect language
few gaps soon. Euro symbols on
Top marks for TEN viders – such as private language tation bodies and government a study carried out by the insti- on this, and hopefully filling the
course providers for child safe-
education colleges – and its
based on 23 qualitative and
a school’s profile indicate the
guarding in the uK. to check the
quantitative indicators, includ-
structured system of awarding
price per hour, calculated from
strengths and noting needs for child safeguarding level of each ing violent crime, homicides and price per week and other fees,
Celebrating its fifth anniversary last year, The improvement lends itself easily centre, we read inspection reports terrorism impact. and divided by time actually
English Network, or TEN as it prefers to be known, to our penchant for rankings (see from the British Council, which the uK shows a great varia- spent in class – to the minute.
has confirmed its position as the most consistently following page). introduced compulsory police tion. the least peaceful area is, the price per week displayed
excellent groups of schools in the UK – based on Elgo is the product of over checking in January 2014, isi unsurprisingly, london, but the is representative of roughly a
British Council inspection reports. Extraordinarily thirty years’ experience in the Educational oversight, ofsted, the report points out that ‘london 20-hour-per-week general Eng-
for an association of independent schools, all ten field of language travel, and its independent schools inspectorate, is relatively peaceful in com- lish course. n
members of TEN score five stars on ELgo, making aim is to allow prospective stu-
them a benchmark for consistency – outperforming dents, their families and their
all the larger chains, as we demonstrate on page iii teachers to easily find informa-
of this supplement. tion that sometimes is difficult
Among TEN’s members is Britain’s top- to locate online. imagine a clear,
performing British Council accredited language concise summary made out of a
centre, Wimbledon School of English, whose pile of tomes – because our read-
principal, Jane Dancaster, is pictured above with ing list doesn’t end with British
Kevin McNally, principal of the fastest-rising Council inspection reports.
centre, Torquay International School, the only For each language cen-
member school in Devon. In fact, a TEN member tre we provide information
school is at the top of the private language schools about its courses, age range,
in every single town in which they operate: child safeguarding standards,
London, Brighton, Bournemouth, Cambridge, class size, top nationalities,
Chester, Eastbourne, Portsmouth and Torquay. accommodation and price per
20-hour-a-week course. on top
of that, we link each centre to its
Figuring out the future
CLAUDIA CIVININI 2030. the fastest riser is Asia, Korea and Pakistan. traditional
writes which in 2030 will make up 59 host countries such as the us,
per cent of middle class spend- uK, Australia, Germany and Can-
thE lAtEst h.G. Wells- ing. ada will also continue to welcome
inspired British Council report, the growth of tertiary-aged the largest numbers of students.
The Shape of International Edu- population – 18-to-22-year- however, their market share is
cation to 2025, drills into oECD olds – directly affects demand threatened by a variety of factors –
and un population division data for higher education and global and the decline in the us and uK
and, with the collaboration of mobility. the fastest growth is seems likely to continue.
oxford Economics, provides a expected to come from Africa, regional and transnational
forecast of international edu- which will equal and then sur- hubs and increasing local pro-
cation demand over the next pass Asia’s youth population vision will disrupt the flow of
decade. the analysis is based on from around 2078. the three students to English-speaking
fifty-plus largest higher educa- fastest risers will be nigeria, countries and further decrease
tion markets. india and indonesia, while traditional host countries’ market
Global education is affected China, russia and Vietnam will share. English as a medium of
by a variety of factors. the see their share of 18-to-22-year- instruction is spreading, but lack
study primarily takes into con- olds decrease. of teacher training is sometimes
sideration projected economic By 2025, the study says, india still a problem. Among the eco-
and population growth, and then will have the largest tertiary-aged nomic factors, the cost of higher
other academic, economic, soci- population, followed by China, education is significantly higher
ocultural and political factors indonesia, nigeria, the us, Paki- in the uK, us and Australia
that might affect student flow stan, Brazil, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, compared to other destinations,
around the world. Philippines and russia. these but this doesn’t seem to deter
one way to predict global countries, the study states, are ‘not students – currency fluctuations
education patterns is tracking only crucial in terms of student have a much greater impact.
income changes and the devel- mobility but also international immigration policies also play
opment of the global middle partnership and engagement’. the a crucial role. Ease in obtaining
class. According to the oECD, prediction is not too different from a visa, which has shown to have
the middle class can be found the reality: China will continue to huge influence on host markets
between a consumption range of be the biggest supplier of Elt stu- such as the uK or Australia in the
$10–100 daily – in 2011 this was dents, followed by india, nigeria, past, and post-study work rights
1.7 billion people worldwide, Germany and saudi Arabia – oth- lead ‘in many cases, students’
but it is set to reach 4.9bn by ers will be France, turkey, south decisions on where to enrol.’ n

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