Foreign students flock to RP; Koreans top list
By Arlie Calalo
Manila Standard Today
friday, May 2, 2008
The Philippines is fast gaining reputation as the “learning center” of Asia, with the number of foreign students rising by 36 percent in the first quarter of the year.
South Koreans topped the list of foreign students in the Philippines, the Bureau of Immigration said.
Immigration Chief Marcelino Libanan said this development came as a vote of confidence in the Philippines even as he warned schools not to admit foreigners without the proper permit or visa. Violators will lose their accreditation with the bureau, he said.
In a statement, Libanan said that foreign students caught without the proper permits will be deported immediately.
Libanan said the increase showed the foreign nationals’ vote of confidence in the country’s educational system and in the agency’s foreigner-friendly policy.
Libanan said that a total of 8,881 foreigners applied for student visas and study permits with the bureau from January to March.
During the three-month period, the bureau collected P16 million from student-visa and study-permit fees.
Of those issued study visas and permits, 947 were active students, 2,892 were given special study permits, 1,180 were new students, and 3,862 renewed their existing visas up to June 15 this year, he said.
The number of Korean students reached 4,717; Chinese, 536; and Americans, 222. A few came from Bhutan, Canada, Cameroon, Colombia, Congo, East Timor, Finland, Ghana, Haiti, Hong Kong, Iraq, Japan, Lebanon, Libya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Russia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
Last year, a total of 24,676 foreigners studied in the country, up by 5,541 and 9,106 over those who enrolled in 2006 and 2005, respectively.
The Immigration bureau collected P140 million from these students during the two-year period.
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