RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:RE:Bid / Ask is about to explode..I do not have details outside of what I get from where I am. I am not pretending that I know the details of there "new" marketing plan. I can tell you that after 14 years in this business, the model of a large group of schools collaborating to alleviate the expense of operating a large corporation will no longer work. project-based learning and individualized programs which include advanced forms of differentiation, and portfolio-based language assessment are becoming the norms in the industry. This requires a totally different structure within the schools, and a flexibility to allow students to study at times that are more convenient to them. It requires retraining so that teachers are not teaching (language is learned, not taught) and are instead, facilitating meaningful work that requires the use of English. None of the large ESL conglomerates can do this, as they are sold on banal curriculum books that are designed by publishing houses to prolong language learning to improve the bottom line.
What is is coming down the pipe, an Alex knows this because his Pharma school's use PBL methodology already, as do most Canadian medical schools. When Loyalist Group took over KGIC when I first arrived to the company, they were flabbergasted at the useless behemoth of a database system they used. They estimated that it would cost a million bucks to fix it or make a new one. they did neither of those things. This is the same situation.
Unfortunately, KGIC will eventually die because of its lack of modern androgogy, methodology and its Luddite attitude toward curriculum and technology. The financial aspect affects those trying to profit off of the market and will have little to do with whether the school remains a going concern or not. If any of the current debt holders has done due diligence, they will know what I have just shared, and they understand that even if they got the Andrew Ryu 18% special, it doesn't matter if the whole thing dies in the next few months.
As for the marketing system, they never had one before, so any system would be new. They signed contracts with agencies and then, as time went on, the agents demanded more than 30% commissions, and then in 2014, it went to 40%. This was the KGIC marketing system. I have checked out Guru Kashi and it appears to be a rather ridiculous notion that an English-speaking university needs to send students here to learn English. Even if they are marketing on the chance they will get immigrants, the majority of Indian students applying for citizenship are now attending the CELPIP test, rather than the IELTS. KGIC does not prep students for the CELPIP.
Management has changed at most locations, I have been told, as most of the managers are abandoning the ship. in Victoria, none of the management remains. When I worked at the Victoria school there were 15-17 FT teachers, and the teachers were always complaining because there were too many students in class. My last classes had 15/16 students, too many in a language class. Now there are 5/6 FT teachers and 3-5 students per class.
Do I know all the nitty gritty of their current situation? No.
Do I know about the industry and what is happening and coming down the pipe? Yes.
Will KGIC stay open? I hope so, as I have very close friends still there. My school is not big enough to accommodate all of the teachers there, but we have taken on 6 employees since June 2015, so I hope they can keep earning money. The reality is that they will all be looking for jobs in the near future.