Foreign students will pay for 28 Kelowna teachers | News

Foreigners contribute $ 266 toward the education of every Canadian student attending Central Okanagan Public Schools.

Without an international education program, the district would have $ 9,882 to spend on each student, trustees will hear next week.

But with the $ 6.2 million paid in tuition by the families of foreign students, per-pupil funding rises to $ 10,148.

For the current school year, fees collected through the international program allowed the district to hire 28 more full-time teachers than would have been possible otherwise, and 13 more full-time certified educational assistants.

“The funding distributed to schools continues to unhand the student experience for all students, including many of our most vulnerable,” states a staff report to trustees.

This year, there are 544 foreign students enrolled in Kelowna-area public schools. Slightly more than half that were enrolled last year, while the rest are new to the program.

While $ 6.2 million in fees is collected in tuition, the program only costs $ 2.3 million to operate. The difference, of $ 3.9 million, is used by the district to hire more teachers and offer programs that likely wouldn’t otherwise exist.