Wall Street sees big surge in enrolments

Apichai Chaiwinij, regional marketing director of Wall Street Institute, said that in the first quarter, Wall Street had 2,500 students in each of its five branches, an increase from 1,300 in each branch in the same period last year.

It also opened its sixth branch recently at Seacon Square, where 200 students had already enrolled. The branch expects 1,000 students this year.

He said that 8,000 additional students would enroll at Wall Street in all six branches this year. The institute has 350 branches in 26 countries, of which six are in Thailand.

The average tutorial fee at the institute in Thailand is around Bt70,000 per person per year and it targets those aged between 16 to 30.

"The demand to learn English  in Thailand has grown significantly.

Despite the economic difficulties there are three businesses that always perform well: entertainment, energy and education," Apichai added.

"Thai people are increasingly aware of the importance of English language in response to the influx of foreign business investment in Thailand," added the institute's country operations manager Chirussanunt Daengpayont.

Apichai said that the institute wanted to see its brand become top in Thailand in 2009. According to its own survey last year, the British Council was ranked in first place as the most recognised brand, followed by AUA in second place and Wall Street in third place.

Wall Street has set a marketing budget of Bt60 million for advertising and customer-relations activities this year.