With the coronavirus induced lockdown, those running International English Language Testing System (IELTS) coaching centres and visa consultancy firms in Jalandhar and Ludhiana are running out of business. There are around 1,500 IELTS and visa consultancy firms in Jalandhar district and 750 in Ludhiana. Majority of the firms are finding it hard to pay the rent and salaries to the staff, many of them have even fired their staff as enquiries regarding immigration and IELTS coaching have nosedived.
As for students who had planned to study abroad, are looking for alternatives as there is no clarity from colleges and universities about their upcoming academic calendar.
As many as hundreds of students from Doaba region were planning to go abroad for the May and September intake but, they have taken a back seat observing the pandemic situation.
Aakash (21), a native of the district’s Jandiala village, said he was on cloud nine three months ago when he received a letter of acceptance from the University of Manchester, UK.
After the Covid outbreak, there has no update on his application. “Now, I plan to take admission to one of the local colleges as my immigration consultant has told me that foreign nations may not invite students from other countries until mid of 2021,” he said.
The next six to eight months are crucial for the immigration industry. If the situation does not improve soon, many agencies would be forced to shut shop.
Harsaurabh Singh Bajaj, Managing Director of International Education Services, Jalandhar told media house, “The Covid outbreak has hit the immigration sector hard and its effect will be long lasting. In spite of offering 60 to 70 per cent discount on consultation and IELTS coaching, there are hardly any takers. We have been running online visa consultancy and IELTS classes, but the response has been poor.”
An umbrella organization of such firms--Study Abroad Association, Ludhiana recently submitted a memorandum to deputy commissioner Pradeep Kumar Grewal seeking relief in rent and other measures to pull them out of the distress. The memorandum has now been forwarded to the chief minister's office.
The coaching centres in Ludhiana train around 35,000 to 40,000 candidates for immigration every year and most of them run from rented premises/buildings that cost between Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2.5 lakh a month. With no source of income, the firms are only buying time from the landlords to pay rent.
President of the association Mitesh Malhotra, who runs seven IELTS and visa consultancy centres in Ludhiana, said the period between April and September was peak season, when a majority of aspirants joined universities or colleges abroad, while in January, there are primarily those applicants, who could not clear IELTS in the first round or didn’t get admission for other reasons.
“Even if we start IELTS classes by June or July-end with 30% of the total capacity, only 1/4 of the students of the total average of 40,000 annually will be able to go abroad in the January intake and the commission, that we will get from the universities for January intake, will arrive by April next year,” he said.
While denouncing the government for not supporting coaching and consultancy establishments during a hard time, Mitesh Malhotra further added that while the government holds NRI congregations who appreciate the contribution made by them for the development of the state, they have no regard for the establishments, which truly builds up NRIs for them.
“We coach and help so many people to go abroad for studies. Coaching and consultancy centres have always played a big role in providing quality life to many Punjabis, who have settled abroad, but the government never thinks of announcing any relief for us,” he said.
Gagneet Singh Grewal, who runs a visa-cum-consultancy centre in the Feroze Gandhi Market, Ludhiana said, “If the government fails to curb the spread of coronavirus, some countries might not allow the migration of Indians due to which many students, who had earlier planned to study abroad, might decide to pursue their graduation here.”
As the nation has entered the first stage of Unlocking the Economy, the centres have requested the government to allow them to function with full strength from June to curb the business losses.
“Even if the government allows us to resume operations with 30 to 50% of the total strength, it will not be beneficial for us as we have to increase staff strength for teaching the students in different batches, pay them salaries, GST, electricity bills and also monthly rent. Considering our plight, the government should let us function fully by next week,” said Mittal, managing director of visa consultancy-cum-IELTS centre, based in the Model Town market.