Russian Education Fairs: How do you know which ones are any good?

Kevin Spensley, Tuesday Feb 12, 2008, 12:00 am

Many fairs, we've decided, do not work--at least not for the school that pays so much money to participate.

In the three years that Education-SI has been representing North American boarding schools in Russia, after much trial and error, we feel we've managed to develop a sense for the quality of educational fairs about which we receive so much promotional material. Most fairs, we've decided, do not work--at least not for the school that pays so much money to participate. After too many thousands of dollars and meetings with people who have no ability or interest in attending a boarding school, we've pretty much ceased attending fairs as a participant. (We still go as visitors for free in case things start to improve).

A problem with attending education fairs in Russia is that many visitors are families with young children. This stems from the fact that there are few, if any, middle schools in Russia and most "secondary schools" are grades 1-11. Consequently, many Russian families begin looking for a school when their children are younger than seven. Once they select a school, most stay with it until graduation. Families do not need to go through a new school search every few years like in North America. Many of these younger families come to the private school fairs because this is when Russian families look for schools.

Although there is no fair in Russia to our knowledge that perfectly targets the candidate families of North American boarding schools, there are a few that we think have more promise than others.

For a fair to "have promise," its costs are reasonable by Russian standards. It must be well organized and well advertised. And it should attract families with the means and desire to send children to boarding schools.

We like fairs whose organizers seem to listen to our concerns and suggestions. And if we attend a fair without meeting at least a few students that end up as our students, we cross it off our list.

For more information contact Education-SI.

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