Nigeria is the biggest market for UK schools, but new FX regime is ‘changing that’

Charles Johnson, marketing director of Abbey DLD group of colleges, says Nigeria is the biggest African market for UK schools, but adds that the new foreign exchange regime is changing that.

Executives from Abbey DLD, a group of schools in Birmingham, Cambridge, London and Manchester, in a visit to Nigeria on Monday, revealed that the foreign exchange regime is reducing the number of Nigerians seeking admission to UK schools.

Corroborating Johnson’s stand, Muazu Jalaludeen, Abbey DLD student admissions manager (Africa), said number of Nigerians seeking admission into these colleges are dropping, with numbers increasing from Uganda and South Sudan.

“Nigeria has been the foremost market for not only Abbey DLD, but most of the colleges in the UK. So because of what is happening with foreign exchange, the college agreed to explore other African markets,” Jalaludeen said.

“They have relied mostly on the Nigerian students, based on what they notice; numbers are going down, that was when it was agreed to let other African markets be involved.

“Right now there are students that are there (in the UK) and their parents are having difficulty in paying their tuition fees, accommodation, and even their pocket monies.”

He said Abbey DLD helps Nigerians in preparing for A levels exams and foundation courses before moving on to the top Universities in the UK.

Ifeoma Nwakalor, a Nigerian student performing excellently at Abbey DLD college in Cambridge, believes that the school makes for total human development.

WILL NIGERIAN STUDENTS PAY IN NAIRA?

Jalaludeen said Nigerian students in the UK are performing excellently in the UK, highlighting that a Nigerian student from Adesoye college in Kwara state had 97 percent in his overall examination.

He added that with current challenges in the Nigerian economy, the colleges are looking at how to facilitate tuition payment in naira.

“We are at our own level, we are trying to the point that we had to discuss if it is possible for them to pay the fees in the local currency, just to save them the problem of sourcing forex.”

WHY NIGERIANS SEND THEIR WARDS TO UK SCHOOLS

The Abbey DLD officials, who are in Nigeria to explore the possibility of getting more partnership and mitigating the currency conundrum for willing Nigerians, said Nigerians are going to study abroad due to the state of education in the country.

The officials said Nigerian elites send their children to UK schools for quality education, emphasizing that five of the 10 top universities in the world are from the UK.

Jalaludeen said like President Muhammadu Buhari said in an interview with Aljazeera earlier in the year, those Nigerians who can afford it, send their children to get good education.

He said his course in Nigeria was for four years, but he eventually spent seven years, showing the state of the education in the country, which the elite love to avoid.