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The PIE: How was BROWNS based?
Richard Brown: We began the varsity in 2003 and we began the campus on the Gold Coast. I grew up on the Gold Coast and after doing lots of worldwide journey, after graduating from college, I got here throughout an English language faculty on my travels.
I used to be really studying Spanish on my travels — I drove down all the way in which from the US to Costa Rica. I got here throughout some language faculties all through my journey by way of Central and South America. I had a ardour for studying languages and studying about different cultures and totally different cuisines — that type of set the scene for the start of my profession in worldwide training.
“We try to take the training exterior the classroom by integrating college students with the native atmosphere”
After travelling world wide for 12 months all through Central and South America and throughout Europe and Asia, the thought for the varsity was born by way of these travels. I believed it might be a good suggestion to start out the varsity on the Gold Coast — I feel it’s an exquisite place to review and be taught, with an excellent life-style, tradition, heat and pleasant folks, in addition to nice climate.
The PIE: BROWNS comes throughout as a college that provides far more than its programs and the situation appears to supply college students a extra full research expertise.
RB: Precisely. We have a look at BROWNS as far more than its course choices — we wish our college students to have the ability to immerse themselves within the full expertise of studying and progress on this fantastic location. We wish them to develop academically and emotionally by way of experiential studying.
We try to take the training exterior the classroom by integrating them with the native atmosphere and the folks, so then it’s not solely extra pleasurable for the scholars, however we consider that it has allowed us to fast-track college students’ studying and progress to realize their English language studying objectives extra rapidly.
The PIE: The English + Whale conservation programs sound actually thrilling. Any plans of increasing the environmental attachment to different actions, such because the Nice Barrier Reef exploration and different nationwide parks exploration as nicely?
RB: Completely. We’re very proactive at serving to and educating college students about environmental points and having a optimistic affect on bettering the standard of the atmosphere in Australia, because it’s a nationwide treasure — the ocean, the marine life, the whales and dolphins, and the animals. That’s the place we’re doing lots of work, partnering with totally different native not for revenue organisations and conservation organisations. So, we try to assist college students admire totally different wildlife species that we now have right here in Australia, with a imaginative and prescient to have the ability to contribute in the direction of the monitoring, analysis, and safety of marine and wildlife species.
The PIE: Are you able to give us a snapshot of the course choices at BROWNS? What number of college students do you cater to yearly and what are your main supply nations?
RB: Most of our programs are on Intensive Common English. These programs are full-time and fast-track college students into attaining their English language studying objectives. So, most college students begin with an Intensive Common English course after which they may progress onto different programs. Quite a lot of college students may progress onto tutorial programs, notably if they’re curious about going onto one in every of our many various college pathways or [enrolling with our] vocational pathway companions.
“The federal government has began to have interaction extra with business to find out about what adjustments must happen”
BROWNS is famend for its tutorial high quality and serving to college students obtain their tutorial studying objectives. Usually the vast majority of worldwide college students begin their journey by studying English after which go on to additional research so, we now have some superb institutional companions in universities together with Griffith College, Central Queensland College, Southern Cross College, and Bond College.
Then, we now have institutional partnerships for college students going onto pathways to colleges. We have now college students who go onto excessive faculties and first faculties and we companion with greater than 100 totally different authorities and non-government faculties.
We have now college students from greater than 50 totally different nationalities finding out with us. And, we now have 3,000-5,000 college students come by way of our faculty yearly. These college students then go and immerse themselves into the group, and lots of go onto keep in Australia.
The PIE: BROWNS has received many awards and accolades up to now. What units it aside from different suppliers within the sector?
RB: We have now at all times targeting high quality and we now have by no means compromised on it. And, we now have made numerous sacrifices to make sure that we keep true to our values. That’s allowed us to construct our model and our popularity — and that has [in turn] allowed us to draw superb workers and superb institutional companions and an extremely broad agent community. A few of our agent companions have been there for practically 20 years and have been with us from 2003 on this journey.
It’s all comes right down to high quality. That’s the place we now have at all times targeting being the best high quality supplier that we could be and to have the continual enchancment philosophy. And, one of many issues that does separate us, is that we now have been recognised by each business and authorities, as a number one premier English language supplier. So, we have been recognised because the recipient of the Worldwide Training Coaching Award, which is essentially the most prestigious award which you can win within the Australian Worldwide Training [sector]. And, we received the award at each the state and the nationwide ranges.
“What’s extremely encouraging is that enquiries are already again to pre-Covid ranges”
We’re a price pushed and function pushed firm. And, that’s allowed folks to come back on this journey with us and we now have created this motion of top of the range worldwide training in Australia — that’s allowed us to additionally develop our contribution to the group and to society.
The PIE: Is BROWNS planning to increase to different elements of Australia and the world, given it has a world imaginative and prescient?
RB: Sure, we now have growth plans in place. Pre-Covid, it was all about how we are able to increase BROWNS, how we are able to have a better affect, and proceed our function and our strategic imaginative and prescient to attach minds and remodel lives with folks from world wide. So, we’re nationwide in addition to worldwide growth. Significantly, with all the thrill now with the web studying platform — the BROWNS Digital, which is our on-line studying program, for college students who can’t make it [in person] or [for those who] choose a hybrid answer to studying on-line after which doubtlessly finishing the rest of their course, head to head, at one in every of our superb campuses in Queensland.
The PIE: Do you suppose the constraints on the web supply of programs, negatively impacted the ELICOS sector throughout the pandemic?
RB: I feel that, really, there are some upsides to Covid, and at Browns we at all times have a look at how we are able to see a possibility in any problem. And, one of many catalysts, due to Covid, is definitely lots of extra overview and scrutiny across the insurance policies that sit inside our ELICOS sector. I feel that it’s inevitable that there’s change and that change will really be extra supportive of on-line hybrid studying fashions, with the regulator additionally coming in help of our business’s innovation and sustainability.
So, I see it as one thing that’s inevitable and the federal government has woke up to this alteration and has began to have interaction extra with business to find out about what adjustments must happen, to maintain the worldwide training sector in Australia on the forefront — as we now have [already] misplaced some territory to different [competitor] nations, as a result of their borders have opened sooner — and so I feel the scholars’ studying wants and wishes have advanced and we might want to ensure that our insurance policies and the regulator help innovation and sustainability inside our sector.
The PIE: Given the setback the sector has confronted throughout the practically two years of the pandemic, how do you see it recovering?
RB: The information undoubtedly means that the ELICOS sector has been the toughest hit and I feel it was the earliest to be affected, as a result of college students have been coming from offshore and after they completed their ELICOS program, then they’d be transferring onto additional research.
“ELICOS would be the first sector to recuperate and rebound”
Sadly, it has been extremely difficult time for these within the ELICOS sector, however there is a gigantic quantity of resilience that has been constructed over this era, that’s going to serve us nicely with the reopening. What’s thrilling is [that], regardless of the ELICOS sector being the earliest and the toughest to be hit, it is going to be the primary sector to recuperate and rebound, as majority of worldwide college students begin their research overseas expertise with the English language. What’s [also] extremely encouraging is that enquiries are already again to pre-Covid ranges and new purposes [have already started] coming in.
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