Wall street instituteenglish school sees 31% leap in students

Wall Street Institute, a lead¬ing Englishlanguage school for adults, enjoyed 31percent growth in its number of students in the first six months of the year.

The yearonyear leap has proved that education is one sector getting no negative impact from the eco¬nomic downturn.

"Whatever happens, humans always consume three things - ener¬gy, entertainment and education," said Apichai Chaiwinij, regional marketing director of Wall Street Institute (Thailand).

The institute has six centres in Bangkok, with the latest one open¬ing two months ago at Seacon Square shopping complex.

It yesterday launched a major campaign entitled "Never Give Up" with the goal of encouraging students to complete their English courses.

With a budget of Bt10 million, the threemonth campaign will offer special promotions to students and hold social activities to encourage them.

Apichai said "Never Give Up" was the institute's biggest campaign in five years. A Bt5,000 award will go to students who can complete three courses within 18 months, starting next month.

"Students will need at least 120 hours of study because our curricu¬lum is certified by the Association of Language Testers in Europe, an organisation that examines and cer¬tifies the standard of linguistic learn¬ing for business application in European countries," he said.

Apichai said the institute hoped to increase its number of students in the third and fourth quarters by another 30 per cent.

"We have about 20,000 students, of whom about 6,000 are active. We expect the number to increase sig¬nificantly to about 25,000 by the end of this year," he added.

He said Wall Street Institute's brand awareness had increased dra¬matically. In 2006, it had awareness of only 40 per cent, but the figure rose to 60 per cent last year and to 80 per cent this year.

The "Never Give Up" campaign will have a Client Fidelity Plan sys¬tem imported from Wall Street International. Every student's results will be monitored systematically, enabling teachers to help students achieve their goals.

"Each person's goal in studying English is different. Some may study for career benefits and others to fur¬ther their studies abroad," Apichai added.

"However, they are all seeking to advance their skills. Our curriculum has been tested and certified to help students fulfil this aspiration in 120 hours, and the past five years have seen 20,000 students achieve their goal."