An East African placement agency is marketing Poland as an ideal destination for African students, citing some of the lowest fees in Europe and ability to remain in the country for up to 10 months after completion of education among other things for its suitability.
Unipoint Education Consultants is also selling Poland as a multicultural destination with high standards of living, where students can live on a low budget as other reasons why students from the region should choose the country.
In advertising posts made in its social media pages, the agency also cited “reasonable weather compared to other parts of Europe”, as among the five reasons why the destination should be a first choice.
While silent on what are some of the popular university programs available in the former Eastern bloc country, it also suggested better job opportunities while studying are a reason why the country is an ideal destination.
There were 72,743 foreign students from 170 countries studying in Poland between 2017/18 according to the Study in Poland website by the Perspektywy Education Foundation. The numbers made up for the 5.6% of all students in the country in an article that categorised the country as the “least internationalised” country in Europe.
“There is still fewer percentage of foreign students studying in Poland in comparison to OECD countries or even in China,” it said.
“More foreign students study in our neighbouring countries”
“More foreign students study in our neighbouring countries: Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia or Lithuania. Poland is, next to Greece, Spain and Slovenia, the least internationalised EU country and the least internationalised in OECD.”
However, Poland is the 10th most popular destination in Europe by student interest excluding the UK, after Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, France, Norway, Sweden, Ireland, Spain and Finland in terms of page views according to Dutch placement company, Studyportals.
“In terms of Africa, 10.4% of student interest for Poland is expressed by students from Nigeria, and for on-campus bachelors and masters programs, the country is the top origin country also in terms of interest,” Cara Skikne senior editor at Studyportals told The PIE News.
Algerian and Moroccan students, she noted, are also in the top 10 countries showing student interest for Poland and Poland has risen from the 13th most popular destination for Algerian students in 2018 to the 3rd most popular, after Germany and Canada, in 2022, she added.