Rainbow Board hopes international students stem shrinking enrollment

The Rainbow District School Board is hoping that a recruitment team sent sent to China and Vietnam will entice international students to Sudbury, and help bolster the board's declining enrolment.

The board is in the initial stages of developing an international student program as part of theprovince's May 2015 mandate.

The board currently has students from Mexico, China and Vietnam studying at local high schools.

• Hefty fees from foreign students are bailing out Canadian universities -- and that's not good
• International students given priority while daughter wait-listed, claims Vancouver mom

Superintendent Judy Noble and two other staff members visited China and Vietnam as part of the recruitment strategy.

The program is different than a student exchange, Noble said, because international students will be paying a $12,500 yearly tuition and spend all four years studying at a Rainbow school. The board should see a return on their investment after about five years, she said.

These returns would come at a time when the board is hard-pressed to find any room in their shrinking budget due to declining student enrolment.

"Through this initiative we're looking to bring students to our classrooms," Noble said, "which is the primary reason that school closures are being considered where there's not enough students in our schools."

"So by investing in this strategy we are bringing students to our classrooms to increase our student presence in our buildings," she said.

The board spent $72,000 on the mission, Noble said, which is a small sum compared with teachers' salaries.

"When you think about the investment that we've made, $72,000 doesn't even pay for one teacher," Noble said, "so relatively speaking it's a very small investment in a strategy that has the potential for very big returns, returns on a number of levels."

Noble said more than a dozen other school boards in Ontario were part of the recruitment mission, including the Sudbury Catholic School Board.

• 'A lot of kids' needs are not being met': Lots of labels, lack of resources for students with special needs