Page 10 - ELG2207 Jul Issue 481

BUSINESS NEWS .

Visa aid

A pioneering partnership between PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK
Pearson and Talent Beyond Boundaries
is helping skilled refugees settle in new
countries, as Sasha Hampson explains

ussia’s recent invasion of The tests will be allocated to
Ukraine and the Taliban those refugees whose skills match
takeover of Afghanistan with employers and skilled
Rlast year have shown migration programmes. So far, it
that more than ever, refugees has launched displaced-talent visa
need solutions to resume their programmes with the governments
lives and rebuild their careers in of Australia, Canada and the UK.
places where they can feel safe A good example of someone
and secure. who has benefited is Fadi mother died and her meagre hopes to see many others achieve
In May, Pearson announced Chalouhy, who went from being assets went to my uncles. I had no this sort of visa through its
that it’s partnering with Talent stateless in Lebanon to being chance of Lebanese citizenship. partnership with Talent Beyond
Beyond Boundaries to offer the a management consultant in Grieving, but determined not to Boundaries.
Pearson Test of English – PTE Australia with the help of Talent die stateless in Lebanon, I went Anyone displaced by the crisis
Academic – free to 300 refugees Beyond Boundaries. on a letter-writing campaign. in Ukraine, or anywhere around
from around the world, and Fadi’s father, a Syrian soldier, “That’s when Talent Beyond the world, can register on the
offering a further 300 tests with a left his Lebanese mother without Boundaries came to my aid. Talent Catalog to be considered
10% discount. registering Fadi for citizenship. To They saw my skills, not my for international employment
Talent Beyond Boundaries is this day, women are not allowed to statelessness. They saw me as and skilled visa opportunities.
the first organisation to focus on register their children in Lebanon an asset, not a liability. It took Visit talentbeyondboundaries.org
pioneering talent mobility for or many other Middle Eastern two years, but I finally became /talentcatalog
refugees as an additional solution countries. So, until very recently, the first stateless person to
to traditional humanitarian Fadi was one of the estimated 10 secure a skills-shortage visa and
resettlement. million ‘stateless’ people around migrated to Australia to work at Sasha Hampson is Vice
It will administer the tests, the world. Accenture.” President of PTE Global
which can be taken in any PTE Fadi takes up the story: “2016 Pearson is naturally very Stakeholder Relations at
Academic test centre globally. was a turning point for me. My pleased with this outcome and Pearson.

EU fund supports English language chain in Central Asia

By Melanie Butler first year target of 480 enrolments
When Mongolian language met within months and 800
schools owner Purevdash Jalbuu students enrolled within the first
needed funding to expand his 12 months. Another 800 students PHOTO BY SHUTTERSTOCK
small chain of schools into signed up in 2020.
neighbouring Kazakhstan, he Jalbuu was worried, however,
reached out to the European by the prospect of opening in
Bank for Reconstruction and Kazakhstan, a market with which
Development (EBRD), which was he was not familiar, and reached
founded by the EU in 1991. out to the EBRD Advice for Small
Having spotted a hole in his Businesses programme, which is
local market for high-quality funded by the EU. They helped
English courses for professionals, him find the best location, Almaty,
Jalbuu opened his first school and identify student preferences.
in the Mongolian capital It turned out that, as in Mongolia,
Ulaanbaator in 2019, having the adult market preferred to learn
acquired the national franchise in a physical classroom, at a time for the past three years. To keep improve, the top end of the
for Wall Street English (WSE), of their choosing and with targeted up with the growing demand adult market tends to contract
the blended learning specialists. teacher support. The Almaty and develop our business further, and can collapse completely in
At first, WSE owners, Barings school is due to open this October. we opened a second branch in a downturn. WSE China, for
Private Equity Asia and CITIC The EBRD team also advised Ulaanbaatar. This would not have example, opened in 2000 and had
Capital, were reluctant to franchise Jalbuu to expand his business been possible without the support 71 centres employing 3,000 staff
into Mongolia, only agreeing on in Mongolia by opening a of the EBRD,” he told Khazakh at its peak. Sold back to WSE
condition Jalbuu also took on the second school. website inform.kz. founder, Luigi Pecenini, in 2019
franchise for Kazakhstan. “With our number of The adult language course at a deep discount, it struggled to
When WSE opened in students, the first Ulaanbaatar sector tends to flourish best survive during Covid and closed
Mongolia, the take up was branch ranked first in the world in new markets. As markets its doors in August 2021 owing
impressive, with the ‘ambitious’ among all the WSE franchises mature and language levels US$15 million.
10 July 2022