On Sept. 20, Premier Christy Clark made an announcement that nobody was expecting - her government would be taking new steps to increase the number of international students in B.C. schools by 50 per cent over the next four years.
At current levels, she said that international students generate about 22,000 jobs in the province and add $1.25 billion to the economy.
For the Sea to Sky School District that should be an attainable goal, given that they've already been working to attract international students - increasing numbers by double digits over the past two years.
"At the moment we have 118 international students, from about 20 different countries," said Amy Shoup, international student manager at the school district.
"From 2009-2010 to 2010-2011 we increased our numbers 11 per cent, and from last year to this year we increased a further 12 per cent, so we're in a sustainable level of growth and we do see that continuing for the next three years."
The number of students has grown and receded over the years. For example, one elementary school program that is now defunct used to draw over 60 elementary students from Korea each year. As well, the number of students will sometimes depend on external factors such as the economy and events like the H1N1 flu crisis.
Shoup and her assistant Mike Weeks spend a lot of time on the road recruiting students to the school district. Shoup just returned from a trip to Germany and in November will head to Mexico. Weeks is currently on a recruitment trip that will include China, Taiwan and Japan.
There is a financial benefit to recruiting the students, with each student paying $12,000 per year to attend public school, as well as various fees for processing applications. Some of the enrollment fees do go back into schools.
The student's family is also responsible for paying for insurance and home stay costs, which can be over $1,000 per month for room and board.
But more important than the economic benefits are the cultural benefits for schools in the district, said Shoup.
"What's more important is to talk about how the presence of international students strengthens education in Sea to Sky and provides an enriching experience for the students and the resident students as well," said Shoup. "It helps prepare international and resident students for life in the global economy and the global community that the world is today."
While she prefers to talk about the less tangible benefits of hosting international students, Shoup said the economic case is well established - both for schools and the communities as a whole. The latest estimate is that a single international student spins off $34,000 in economic benefits for the community.
Currently, Sea to Sky's capacity for hosting international students is unknown and will change from year-to-year with class size, said Shoup. Overall, Sea to Sky is similar to other school districts across the province where enrolment is on a decline. She said she was hoping to get some idea of the overall capacity from the board this week.
"It will be up to them to determine if there's a maximum level (of international students) and what that level might be," she said.
There are several reasons why the Sea to Sky region is attractive to international students.
"The first thing that sells B.C. is the fact that we have a standardized education system, so for any public school in B.C. we know the level of education is very high and that there's a standard curriculum - the parents know what the education is going to look like," said Shoup. "They are attracted to Sea to Sky because we have smaller and safer communities compared to the big city, but we're also close to Vancouver. We also have recreational opportunities that are one of the main reasons that students will choose to come to our district as opposed to other districts."
Most international elementary students will move to the area temporarily with their families, while international high school students are billeted in homes through the district's home-stay program. Home-stay families are carefully screened and then students are matched up to a housing opportunity as closely as possible based on the kind of experience they're looking for. Once here, international students are monitored by the school district, teachers, school counsellors and Shoup's office to ensure that they're getting the most out of the program.
The students are encouraged to become active in school sports and school activities, and meet once a month for outings. This year's crop of international students has already met for orientation, for a hike around Alice Lake Provincial Park and taken a trip to Vancouver to see some of the sights. Next month they're going to a Vancouver Canucks game, and in the future they'll have cross-country ski trips to Whistler and sea kayaking trips to Deep Cove.
"We take it very seriously, the notion that a parent across the world is sending their child to us," said Shoup. "It's not something we take lightly and there's a big team to support these students to make sure they're successful."
Currently students from Germany are the largest group of international students in the corridor, followed by Mexico, China and Korea. Also represented are Australia, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan, The Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Taiwan and Thailand, and the board is looking at its first applications from Guatemala and Slovakia. Most European students come for a year or a semester in the senior grades, while students from Asia are more likely to stay for several years, graduate, and go on to a post-secondary education in the province.
In Whistler, the number of international students increased from 20 last year to 36 this year.
"We've always had students wanting to come to Whistler, the problem has been there weren't enough home-stays," said Whistler Secondary principal Bev Oakley. A few spots in Whistler Secondary's outdoor education program are reserved for international students (more are available if Whistler teens don't sign up), and this year there are six international students enrolled in Sports School - a program that allows student athletes time off to train and compete and learn on the road.
Some of the benefits of international students, said Oakley, include diversity, the ability to offer more courses and additional funding for the school.
The school could also accept a lot more international students than it currently takes in.
"We can comfortably accommodate 400 students within the current building right now," said Oakley. "With portables, our max would be 500, but that would put a lot of pressure on our gym and science labs and it would not be an ideal situation. We currently have 374 students at WSS including internationals."
With the number of students, Oakley said that WSS probably already meets Premier Clark's quota, and suggests that the province will meet its 50 per cent goal by bringing international students to districts that don't currently have programs.
