For as much as international education agencies attempt to perfect marketing and recruitment tactics, the industry’s sensitivities to geo-politics can sometimes have much more impact on business trends. Ukraine is unfortunately undergoing its own national crisis that agencies in the country believe will have a marked impact on demand for outbound work/study travel.
Two-month long protests against President Yanukovych that began when he backed out of an arrangement to strengthen ties with the European Union in favour of a closer alliance with Russia have developed into civic unrest about wider issues and rioting in the country that sits between East and West.
“The events in the last two months have been a catalyst for students looking for work permit options,” says Gautham Kolluri, founder of the The Ukrainian Association of International Education and Exchanges Agencies and MD of the CIP Agency. “Canada is big at the moment,” he adds.
“The events in the last two months have been a catalyst for students looking for work permit options”
Demand for post-study work rights has also resulted in a rise in undergraduate course enquiries, explains Kolluri, whose company is experienced in organising work abroad opportunities, as well as study abroad, and has partnered with Walt Disney World Inc., Universal Orlando Resorts and UK companies such as Alton Towers and Rail Gourmet.
“Many people don’t realise it but Ukraine is very much like Asia – especially India – they’re very interested in work permits,” he tells The PIE.
CIP Agency also coordinates some 300 students to complete the US State Department’s Summer Work Travel programme each year. Kolluri says the recent unrest has caused some concern in the US government that programme participants will return when the programme finishes on September 1.
Agencies have also seen an increase in interest from more mature students, adults looking to advance in their careers through language courses or post-study degrees.
Natalia Bernatska, Education Manager at the agency BSI-Ukraine, reports a 50% increase in adult enquiries on the previous year. “There’s been an increase in demand from adults because more and more they realise they need to learn English,” she says. Bernatska said most adult clients are interested in studying two or more weeks in the UK.
“We’ve see more interest from adults because of the political and economic situation,” confirms Kolluri. “People are tired and want to start new careers.”
Early bookings are likewise up from previous years among return clients says Bernatska. “In Ukraine, people usually book three to four months before a course but we started having bookings for summer courses in November and it’s continued into January.”
She adds that low wages and a minimum of two-week visa processing times for most Ukrainians to go to all major destinations has probably impaired any spur of the moment attempts to go abroad to study. “Most people can’t pay the €1,000 for prioritised visa processing. The average monthly salary is only €500.”
“We’ve see more interest from adults because of the political and economic situation”
Larysa Neklyudova, MD of the agency Aspect, has seen many more enquiries among parents looking to send their children abroad for academic programmes to high school or foundation courses. Though sales don’t represent the increased interest, she says she expects sales to be higher as parents try to send their children out of the country.
Agency iStudy held its fourth annual Study Shop in the capital last week which was attended by over 300 potential students and 25 educators representing all sectors from language courses to post-graduate degrees. Organisers and exhibitors both found students were more motivated than in previous years.
“They knew why they were coming to the fair and they knew what they were looking for,” says Irina Kittiak, Director of iStudy. “They didn’t come just to get some general information. They knew the schools that were exhibiting and they wanted some exact information about the courses.”
Will Dowling, MD at Malvern House Ireland attended the fair and says the quality of the students exceeded his expectations.
“They were extremely interested in Ireland and the majority we spoke to were for looking for programmes for their kids,” he says. “There were a lot of families that attended.”
Kittiak’s observation is that potential market growth will depend on whether the conflict is resolved. “Every year there’s 15-20% growth in numbers of clients who go abroad to study,” she says. “We expect this year to grow as well but only if there is political stability will it be the way it was before or better.”
“We expect this year to grow as well but only if there is political stability will it be the way it was before or better”
Meanwhile, Buttumeir Ahmad, president of the Ukraine International Education Council says that there has been increased concern among prospective students who have contacted his organisation.
Over 64,000 foreign students are studying in Ukrainian universities, mostly from Asia, Lebanon and India. Undergraduate medical courses are the most popular among international students but engineering and information technologies are also attracting enrolments.
Some universities based in the capital city, including Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and the National Aviation University, have made special requests to the Ministry of the Interior to provide security, Ahmad says.
“Except in central Kiev, the events have had no impact on foreign students in Ukraine”
“Except in central Kiev, the events have had no impact on foreign students in Ukraine,” underlines Ahmad, who adds that despite the attacks on government buildings, the Ministries of Education and Energy remain unharmed. “We understand that if these two ministries are disturbed, then the next 20 years will be disturbed for our country.”
Both Kolluri and Bernatska confirm that while the whole country is affected, the majority of the conflict is in isolated streets in Kiev. “It’s not as bad as it looks in the media,” notes Baenatska.
From his visit last week, Dowling observed: “It was an incredible experience and eye opening for me personally. The media reports in Europe seem to be quite wrong in how they approach this. The truth is in there somewhere but it’s not really getting out.
“There are reports of masked men- I’d be wearing a mask as well if it was –20 degrees!” he added.
Kolluri of CIP is optimistic there will be an end to the conflict soon. “I think things have been very calm in the last week,” he said. “Everyone is positive it will bring change.”
