Intl. students generating $

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Students from 15 countries outside Canada are attending school within the Okanagan Skaha School District this year.

The district is working to grow its international student program, with 111 children in the system this year. The students enroll in terms ranging from one to 10 months, paying tuition and fees between $2,640 and $22,300 per pupil depending on the length of the term.

While the number of students is down from the 2015/16 total of 138 children, this year students are staying  longer and paying more. International students this year generated over $1.6 million in revenue for SD 67, up from about $1.1 million the previous year.

“We’ve made a conscious decision to move away from short term two week, three week programs… and instead focus on the longer term programs,” said program administrator Jeff Guy noting the shorter programs were taxing on homestays and disruptive to the schools.

Guy said the relatively small size of their international program makes it attractive overseas to parents, who like that their children will be surrounded by English speaking students and be forced to learn the language.

SD 67 also limits the number of international students from any one nationality to one per cent of the total student population to keep the program attractive for the same reasons.

While most of the tuition and fees the school district collects are invested back into education of the student, Supt. Wendy Hyer said there's still an impact on the local economy, and "the community at large.”

Forty-eight international students have signed-up for the next school year so far, but Guy said they are receiving about two applications a day at this point.

He would like to see the program “plateau” at the equivalent of 100 full time students, with growth potential in Thailand, Spain and Italy.