Page 11 - StudyTravel Magazine May/June 2022 Issue

eduCAtor Q&A Agents on...

and RuSSIa
industry speAKs STudenTS In uKRaIne

This issue, Jodie gray, Chief Executive
of english uK, talks to us about the Haitam Giat,
association’s activities and how recent yes atlas www.
lobbying efforts have centred around Covid-19 yesatlas.com,
mitigations and immigration. Middle east

“We recruited around 18 students
in 2021, mainly to major cities like
Kyiv and Kharkiv. All our students
were evacuated. Our partner in
Ukraine has also fl ed to Poland.
Their countries’ embassies took
care of the travel arrangements. [As
for Russia], new students are not
www.englishuk.com willing to consider Russia as a study
info@englishuk.com destination. As for current students,
due to Covid-19, most have been
number of members: 338 studying online – while the old
Types of members: private and state eLT centres students, some are looking for new
options but the majority are still in
Russia and looking to continue their
What has english uK been up to in the last 12 months? education there."
We’ve run our online StudyWorld events on a more regular basis and did a
very popular face-to-face Marketing Conference on the South Bank last
autumn. At the time of writing, we are planning our ELT and members’ confer- Renee Stillings,
ences as hybrid events. We are incredibly proud of our English with Confi - SRaS https://
dence agent-facing campaign, which is the place to get clear information sras.org/, uSa
on UK ELT and Covid-19 travel and visa requirements. We have partnered with
the British Council and the Department for International Trade to promote “The situation being broadcast
this, amplifying the message beyond what we could do alone. Additionally, about Ukraine in January (troops
we’ve created a series of short campaign videos with DIT funding; launched massing) was one where the neces-
a new qualifi cation, the Certifi cate in ELT Student Experience Management; sary approvals for students to go
overhauled our Diploma in ELT Management qualifi cation; and launched our abroad to Ukraine would not be pos-
anti-racism and environmental action plans. As you’d expect, the eff ects sible and we knew this. We agreed
of the pandemic mean we have sadly lost some members. Fifteen per cent on a plan early by which those
have had to close or merge at a time when student volume declined by 75 per students would either study online
cent. That really shows you how resilient UK ELT is. for four weeks or go to Kyrgyzstan
for four weeks. We did [have clients
What lobbying work has the association carried out? in Russia], and we evacuated them
We lobbied heavily for Covid Additional Relief Fund (CARF) guidance to specifi - in late February either to Bishkek or
cally name ELT as a benefi ciary, and while we were unsuccessful, the minister back home to the USA. There was
in the Lords did acknowledge that our sector was one which deserved to be slowly increasing messaging from
awarded CARF. Our lobbying on visas has led to a simplifi cation of the rules the US Embassy, but we moved
allowing ELT courses to be studied on visitor visas, and signifi cantly raised before that really even ramped up.”
the public profi le of the importance of ID card travel for under-18s.
Read more at: https://studytravel.
Read more at: https://studytravel.network/magazine/issues/820 network/magazine/industry-issues

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