International education: an ideal platform for schools
Few are the schools that do not wish or have spoken of bringing international education closer to their students, but in many there is doubt: how, to which students, we discriminate by grades ... and as has always happened, those who have less resources or those who are not brilliant in notes or sports are being left behind, with which they even increase more the unjustified differences between them instead of shortening them.
Since the crisis, families are investing 28% more in the education of their children, which shows the importance that parents give to education and training in general.
All the experts affirm that the best way to learn a language and internalize it is to live it, that is to say to make a linguistic immersion with natives of the country, then, where is the master formula so that anyone who wishes to have this education?
What kind of international education exists today?
For centuries, good education goes by traveling abroad and having a background, that has not changed, on the contrary it has taken a lot of relevance in the curriculum of any student.
Seeing the world, knowing other countries, cultures, speaking other languages is undoubtedly a fundamental pillar in the education of any student and it is difficult to learn in the classroom; on the contrary, it is necessary to leave them and the schools know it:
The market offers:
- Summer Programs: summer courses, sports programs, summer camps, language courses.
- Academic programs: academic programs or school year, school term, summer pre-university courses.
Some of them highly recommended for their high level of linguistic immersion but also with a high economic cost for families.
Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture and Multilingualism commented in an interview 15 years ago (Jarea Sauté 2002) that "monolingualism is a luxury that we can not afford" and added: "In my opinion, there can not be a real motivation to learn languages without being aware of the fact that they are essential for proper communication with people, to read in another language, etc. "
What are the schools doing?
One of the priorities of parents when choosing a school are languages, bilingual schools are what they most demand.
Parents are so concerned that their children learn languages that can give more importance to this type of bilingual education than to the same curriculum of the center or its academic level.
Many have been the centers that have joined the wave of courses or programs abroad.
Schools belonging to the same congregation, schools of the same international educational line or independent schools have made agreements with foreign schools, have made exchanges among their students for years.
These exchanges still have intermediaries:
- The schools themselves act as such among the families
- These can not be freely chosen
- It is not open to all students equally
- The costs are still high
- The school has to invest a lot of time and effort in carrying out these exchanges for a few students
- A very high cost for everyone.
On the other hand, the centers have also invested time and means in hiring foreign or bilingual teachers to teach subjects in another language, they even carry out more than half of the subjects in another language to be a bilingual school.
What does the market offer to schools?
There are agencies that organize summer courses for groups in schools, camps in England, Ireland, USA or Canada.
Normally they are programs in which the group of students stay in paying families, camps or in residences for students, where they coexist with other foreigners like them.
The schools have been able to do little to differentiate themselves from this market or programs and offer ALL their students an affordable opportunity to reach that international education.
What does Via Families offer?
Via Families offers schools a tailor-made tool for them; an international platform / network of families and students to carry out linguistic, sports or cultural exchanges between them, uniting them by common interests and needs, around education, sports, culture and languages.
A system of collaborative economy around education where everyone wins by helping each other.
Schools can have their own public profile with international visibility, contact other centers or entities of interest and publish their achievements and news. They also create bonds of empathy and fidelity with the families of their students.
"The school offers the possibility to ALL its students to travel,
learn and meet families and students like them in
other countries, to choose and decide where, when, how and
with whom to make an exchange, travel or receive a student "
How does Via Families work?
Like many other collaborative economies that are so in vogue (AirB & B, BlaBlaCar or Home Exchange) is based on help, help each other saving intermediaries and agencies, lowering costs to the maximum, based on mutual needs and interests.
In just 3 steps the school can contact whoever they want, instantly offer the platform to the families and students of their center and guarantee the identity of these in a simple, comfortable and safe way: registering, creating profile and validating the profile of the families .
"Families have the option to contact anonymously
through the platform's messaging services
until they decide to give themselves the data and continue to communicate
off the shelf"
Via Families It is a platform at the service of international education for young people, and schools are undoubtedly a cornerstone in this process of education for the men and women of tomorrow.
An alternative path in international education, economic and accessible to all, where it is not discriminated by economic or curricular level, using the advances of technologies and the boom of the collaborative economy between people and countries.
