English UK, the national association for English language teaching centres in the UK, has appointed a new board member after a surprise departure by former board member Chris Moonie, of the Mackenzie School of English.
Farhan Quraishi, CEO and co-owner of Speak Up School of English, who ran for election last May and came close to winning a seat on the board then, has been been instated.
“It’s fantastic that there was so much interest in this year’s board election and we had many more candidates than places available. That made it easy to find someone who many members had already voted for and Farham will bring energy, technological awareness and creative ideas to the board,” says board chair Mark Rendell.
Farhan, who started Speak Up School of English 10 years ago, says he was moved to run for the board when he saw what Covid had done to the industry. “Our industry was shaken like never before,” he says. “It was truly heartbreaking to see how little recognition we received considering how much we contribute to the economy, and how little support we obtained as an industry. I wanted to stand for the board to ensure that we, collectively, work towards gaining that recognition and using my skills from building a school from the ground up to help other schools.”
