Blyth Academy, Canada’s largest private school group by enrolments, has developed a Local Currency Guarantee Programme (LCGP), providing agents and families with guaranteed tuition fees in their local currencies.
The group introduced the service to overcome volatile currencies in potential growth markets including Brazil, Nigeria, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine.
“The growth strategy being driven by LCGP is particularly effective in countries like Turkey, Ukraine and Russia where their currencies have experienced steep declines”
Chair of Blyth Academy Sam Blyth told The PIE News: “The growth strategy in our secondary markets is being driven by LCGP and is particularly effective in countries like Turkey, Ukraine and Russia where their currencies have experienced steep declines.”
“We have had both a lot of response and a lot of appreciation from agents and families for the programme,” he added.
Agents and students in Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Mexico and Pakistan are also among markets being offered the service.
The company developed the system independently of a third party currency exchange service to avoid “extra costs and complexities”.
“We did it by putting together a currency hedging program that allowed us to buy foreign currencies forward and pass on the guaranteed local currency rates to agents and their client families,” explained Blyth.
It also streamlines the registration and payment process for agents through contact with only one member of staff at the academy.
As a result of LCGP, the company expects to see 30-50% growth in key countries “both because of the offer itself and secondly because of the added visibility.”
Around 5,000 students are currently enroled Blyth Academy’s 11 schools including Blyth Online Academy and Blyth Global Academy. International students from 25 countries account for 10% of total population.
