OVERSEAS education agents in Yangon are increasingly steering local students towards tourism training and hospitality schools in Singapore because fees are low, the programs are short and students have the opportunity to find jobs in Singapore’s tourism industry.

“Tourism-related subjects and especially hospitality are very suitable for Myanmar students in terms of money, time and benefit to the student,” said Daw Moe Phyu Mar Aung, principle of the Overseas Education Service Centre.

The centre opened last month in Yangon to help meet the rising demand for overseas education services for students who wish to study in Singapore.
“I opened the centre because the market has good potential to get even bigger,” she said.

Yangon has more than 40 overseas education agents who are affiliated with universities, colleges and vocational schools in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, England and the United States.

“Almost all overseas education agents are keeping close tabs on hospitality schools in Singapore because many students want to enroll in their programs,” said U Nay Lin Phyo, director of Smart Resource Education Centre.
“Parents also want their children to study at tourism-related schools in Singapore because they can get high-paying jobs and have a higher standard of living,” said Daw Moe Phyu Mar Aung.

However, she warned that the growing interest in attending overseas tourism and hospitality schools has also increased the opportunity for dishonest education agents to scam prospective students.

“Some people become education agents for no other reason than to make a profit. Some of them take deposit money for schools that have shut down and some promote schools with no Case Trust (CT) or Singapore Quality Class (SQC) certificates,” she said.

She explained that schools with such certificates guarantee that even if they shut down, students will get back any deposit money they have paid.

“Schools in Singapore usually ask students for a deposit of about S$5000 when they enroll,” said U Kyaw Thu, an education agent affiliated with several Singapore hospitality schools. “If they enroll in a school without CT or SQC certificates and school shuts down, they won’t get their deposit back.”

U Nay Lin Phyo also warned that students should be wary of guarantees by agents that they will be able to find a job in Singapore if they attend a hospitality training program.

“These programs provide opportunities for jobs but whether someone gets hired after finishing school depends on their individual ability. Agents should be clear about this to students and their parents,” he said.

One student who had no luck finding work in Singapore was Ko Tin Lin Aung, who went there to attend a one-year diploma course in hospitality with an investment of K10 million.

“A lot of Myanmar students have trouble finding jobs in the Singapore tourism industry so I decide to come back to Myanmar to find work,” he said.