Overseas Education Agents Go Back to School
19 May 2006
- Australian Government Provides “Quality Control” Certification
- Increasing Number of Korea Agents Apply to Sit Test
When he became an overseas educational agent, Han Yong-seok, 32, of Timestudy didn’t expect to go back to school, but on Thursday, there he will be, along with 130 fellow agents hosted by the Australian Embassy in Seoul attending a workshop on how to answer questions like “How many Australians have won the Nobel Prize?” and “What animals are represented on the Australian coat of arms – and why?”
“Sometimes it is difficult, and we have to answer in English,” said Mr. Han, who will be studying 1-2 hours per day in the run up to the course’s qualifying test in June.
But despite the knotted brows, it is a popular program. “It is very useful, and very interesting,” Mr. Han added.
The Australian Embassy has offered the annual workshop in Seoul for the last eight years to help educational agents learn more about study in Australia. In Korea, some 1,000 educational agencies arrange, for a fee, for local students to travel abroad to study in schools, universities and training institutes. The workshop covers not only Australian general knowledge, but such issues as the educational environment, related laws and student visa processes and regulations
After the workshop, the agents can sit a qualifying test. Last year, 89 Korean agents took it; this year, the course is fully booked with 130 registrations. The test badges successful applicants with the prestigious title “Aussie Education Specialist” - de facto recognition from Canberra of an agents’ bona fides.
“By helping them know the product better, and by helping them know the key things that differentiate Australia, we help the agents expand their business,” said Mary-Jane Liddicoat the Australian Embassy’s Education, Science and Training counselor. “And what is good for them, is good for us.”
Agents agree. “It’s good for us, because we get new information and assistance,” said Eric Sun of Seoul-based agency KOKOS International. “They send us newsletters and have regular seminars,” Sun, who passed the test last year, added.
The program enjoys impressive official support. The embassy runs the program free in English and Korean, has an online training course in English (www.pieronline.org/eatc) and even pays the accommodation expenses of agents who travel more than two and a half hours to Seoul to take the test.
The foundation of the astonishing half-century of economic success enjoyed by South Korea - a country with no significant natural resources - has been its development of human capital. Today, overseas education is hugely popular: In 2004, according to official data, some 190,000 citizens traveled abroad for study.
With Koreans spending billions dispatching young minds abroad, assurance that parents and students are getting their money’s worth is essential. According to Ms. Liddicoat, Australia is the only English-speaking country with legislation designed specifically to protect overseas students.
Laws ensure that students receive the tuition they have paid for, and, if an educational institution closes, students are guaranteed alternative tuition or their money back. Australia also protects student welfare and offers parents or approved guardians visas so they can stay in Australia with their children during their period of study.
Such regulations help buyers to make sure they get the best value for their money when they look around for an overseas study option.
But to return to Mr. Han and his colleagues. The would-be Aussie Education Specialist will know that nine Australians have won Nobels, and the animals on the national crest are the emu and the kangaroo because they can’t walk backwards…which, not coincidentally, is how Australians, forging ever onwards, like to see themselves.
Details: Australian Education Specialist’s Workshop 2006 will be held on 24-25 May at Academy House, Suyudo, Kangbuk-gu, Seoul (tel 02-3499-7500). Media representatives are welcome to attend the opening ceremony at 9:30 am Thursday 24 May.
For more information, please contact:
Ms Irene Kim, Media Relations Manager
Australian Embassy, Seoul
tel 2003-0189
Ms Eunmi Jung, Education Development Manager, Australian Education International, Australian Embassy, Seoul
tel 2003-0128