The Brazilian Educational and Language Travel Association (BELTA) is the largest agency association in Brazil, representing 54 members. President Carlos Robles tells us about the Brazilian student mindset and the market’s prospects for growth.
The PIE: What does BELTA offer and whom does it represent?
CR: BELTA is a non-profit association of Brazilian education agents. It was founded 20 years ago by six members. They were looking to regulate the market and discuss ethics and how to proceed in an emerging country when placing students abroad. Nowadays BELTA has 54 members, representing about 600 foreign institutions and programmes.
The PIE: Is most of your business language and HE?
CR: I would say our agents work mainly with four sectors. First language learning, which according to BELTA research is out number one area of study abroad business. This is followed by high school programmes and programmes where you work, like internships, work and travel and au pair programmes.
In terms of volume, tertiary and technical education is the lowest. That’s because the best universities in Brazil are free. So the middle classes invest a lot up to that point in language and high school preparation. But then the students will go into undergraduate programmes in Brazil. However, they go abroad again for postgraduate courses.
“Brazilians are always looking for something extra, so the agents are putting together programmes that combine language and other things”
The PIE: Some say the Brazilian ELT market is diversifying. Do you agree?
CR: Well, Brazilians are always looking for something extra. There are a lot of people who have been abroad to do English – it’s the most popular language to study followed by Spanish and French. But they are always looking for something extra, so the agents are putting together programmes that combine languages and other things.
The PIE: Can you give me an example?
CR: The agents are looking for certain niches. They have identified a niche of “over 50’s” learners – people who didn’t have the chance previously to go abroad and study. They actually have time and money to go abroad. They like to combine their courses with cultural activities like learning about wine or dancing.
The PIE: What makes Brazil want new or different courses?
CR: I think it’s part of our culture. We are always looking for something exclusive or different to try. It’s in our nature.
The PIE: What’s the best way to connect with Brazilian students?
CR: BELTA can help! We have a magazine that we distribute free to the public; we give out about 100,000 copies a year. Every year we specialise in one country, so one country is “sponsoring” the magazine so to speak. Information from other countries is included too. And we have our website.
“They have identified a niche of “over 50’s” learners”
The PIE: What about agents? Are they widely used?
CR: Brazilian students do tend to use agencies because they want to make sure the school they choose exists and is good quality. With competition rising, driven by the internet, there have been bad cases of agencies that do not deliver the service that was promised.
Recently one closed its doors, left about 100 students without services and took their money. This is bad for the sector. But that’s where BELTA can help, by upholding ethics and restricting the number of agents who can join us. And we supervise this closely.
The PIE: A lot of people say that the Brazilian student market is growing? Do you agree and will it continue?[More>>]
CR: Definitely, the market is important and rising. It depends on a lot of factors. The economy is the best thermometer. When we have a stable currency, it enables students and clients to plan ahead. But when the currency fluctuates and gets higher, it creates uncertainty. Students worry whether they can afford it.
When the currency is stable, which happened a couple of years ago for a period, we saw a phenomenon we had never seen before. The social class we call’ ‘C‘ [there are five social classes in Brazil graded A-E] – which I would call the lower middle class, and which wouldn’t normally have access to international education – started to get access. All of a sudden the study abroad market boomed.
“Suddenly class C could get finance…but then the currency climbed”
The PIE: How did that play out?
CR: It meant that class C could get finance and chose to invest in education. They need overseas training to get ahead in their jobs and for getting better pay. But then the currency climbed from 1.60 or 1.70 reais against the US dollar, where it had been for two years, to 1.80 reais. Then class C just refrained from studying abroad. So while it caused a spike in our statistics, it would have been wrong to use it as a predication for the market, because it went down.
The PIE: What’s the outlook now?
CR: What I see is constant growth, and that’s going to continue. It won’t be as pronounced at what happened with the class C numbers. But it’s on a stable, upward curve.
The PIE: There’s a growing amount of English language teaching being delivered within Brazil by firms such as Abril Educação. Could this harm the study abroad segment?
CR: Yes and no. Of course if you offer that training in Brazil, less people could go abroad. But Brazil is a vast country and we have lots of people with different needs. So I believe that there will always be a market and it will rise. In-country training alone is not enough to stop it.
The PIE: At the recent Languages Canada conference, Canada was highlighted as a growing study destination for Brazilians. Do you see much potential there?
CR: Canada has a very positive image in Brazil in terms of safety. Prices there are also very competitive. It has also marketed its image well in Brazil – it gains a lot of media attention here. Word of mouth then grows and the trend increases. So I really think that Languages Canada and the Canadian government have done a good job in terms of promotion.
“They often want to do some training, not exactly for academic reasons but to experience another culture”
But it also depends on visas and immigration policy. That can be a problem. I think Brazilians are no risk for the majority of countries in terms of illegal immigration, which is good for our image.
The PIE: What sort of visa obstacles do you see in Canada?
CR: I don’t think Canada has been posing any issues recently. Of course not all visas are approved, but generally speaking we have no problems. It’s actually quite easy. I do worry about the proposed scrapping of co-op work and study programmes, where students study a language then practise in a work environment.
Many Brazilians choose this route. They often want to do some training, not exactly for academic reasons but to experience another culture, interact and bring it back to Brazil.
