GLOBAL EDUCATION FOR FILIPINOS. IDP Education Philippines director Jose Miguel Habana (3rd from left) reports that about 53,000 Filipinos are studying in Canada Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Ireland during a press briefing at the IDP office in Quezon City on Wednesday (Nov. 15, 2023). He said their number is growing up to 13 percent every year. (PNA photo by Ma. Teresa P. Montemayor)
MANILA – Most Filipino students who have been recruited to study abroad suffer from unmet expectations and academic failure experiences due to misinformation.
“One of the common things we see when the students come to is misinformation,” IDP Education Philippines director Jose Miguel Habana said during a press briefing at the IDP office in Quezon City on Wednesday.
IDP Education Philippines is an Australian-listed company that provides international education services, which operates in more than 80 countries worldwide.
Having children who study abroad, Habana said it is difficult to know about Filipino students overseas who are unable to achieve their academic goals due to course mismatch, failure to adjust to changes in climate and culture, and lack of work-study balance.
According to IDP Education Ltd.’s research, about 53,000 Filipino students are studying in the top five destination countries – Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Ireland – and the market is growing from 8 percent to 13 percent every year.
IDP Education Philippines sales and operations head Maria Cecilia Mundo said there is a growing interest in international studies among Filipino students as more parents are open to sending their children abroad to study due to possible work opportunities afterward.
“We know that all students who study internationally, it's all about helping their families, helping their economy, increase their means of living, support their siblings and relatives,” she said.
Many Filipinos are also looking for quality education and some courses that are not offered locally.
Most of the courses Filipinos take abroad are business and management, health and health-allied courses, information technology, data analytics, hospitality and tourism, engineering, age care and early childhood, creative arts, and game and design.
Mundo noted that based on their interviews, about 60 percent of Filipinos studying abroad are taking post-graduate studies.
Though unable to provide specific figures, she said IDP Education Philippines’ students who have completed international studies and landed jobs abroad are growing in number or about 56 percent to 70 percent yearly.
“We keep in touch with our IDP alumni. Seeing the students thrive, that’s the measure of success for IDP,” Habana said. “We get referrals from our satisfied students abroad. Since we are 'student first,' we don't favor any institution, we're focused on the students’ goals.”
IDP Education Philippines does not ask for upfront payment for their services. Its website offers free webinars and all types of information Filipinos need to know about studying abroad.
It also offers free counseling to ensure that students’ career and aspirations are matched with the right academic institution, course, and country of destination.
“We only earn the moment students are placed in the institution. We get (a) commission once they start enrolling,” he said. “We also have our IDP colleagues offshore, for example, Australia, Canada, who ensure that the transition (is) smooth, that students are able to adapt.”
Because about 44 percent of its students are self-funded, IDP Education Philippines also provides information on available academic scholarships from its partner institutions.
To date, IDP Education Ltd. has helped more than 700,000 students in quality courses around the world.
It specializes in combining human expertise with its leading digital platform to help people get accepted into their ideal course, take an English language test, or learn English in its schools.
On Nov. 15, IDP Education Philippines opened its new office in Quezon City. It provides free study abroad services and houses an international English Language Testing System test center. It is the 8th IDP student placement office and the 15th IELTS Computer test center in the country. (PNA)
