A new awards scheme to honour “premier” education agencies has been unveiled by a Canadian language college, which is offering a scholarship of one week’s tuition to all agency applicants in its bid to build up interest in its new endorsement of professional achievement.
Using a judging panel of business experts, the Premier Agency Business Awards (PABA) will reward three winners in distinct categories: New Agency of the Year (2-5 years old); Small Agency of the Year (1-9 educational consultants) and Agency of the Year.
Jackie Grant, Marketing & Events Manager at the Toronto campus of (also in Halifax and Ottawa), explained that the founder of CLLC (Canadian Language Learning College), Aly Rajab, wanted to help reward good agencies in the education agency field, given that the barrier to entry is so low.
“With so much variety [of operators], Aly felt as though those agencies offering high quality can get lost or overlooked,” explained Grant. “With the wrong advice, a student can be handicapped from day one. 聽However, the opposite can be said for those who take the time to get it right. Those are the agencies that we are proud to recognise at the PABA awards.”
The judging panel has not been revealed, but literature about the awards indicates that they will be from outside the industry, although they will understand the business model.
“We believe the awards will serve as a platform for agents to increase awareness for their business”
Prizes up for grabs for agencies that can demonstrate their ethics, integrity and strategy include CAN$10,000 in advertising money for an agency to invest in their local marketplace as well as 10 scholarship weeks at CLLC (gold); 10 scholarship weeks (silver); and 5 scholarship weeks (bronze).
The awards ceremony will take place in Toronto in May. Grant explained that a shortlist of 21 nominees and the nine finalists will be promoted at industry events and through online media.聽“In addition to the [prizes], we believe the awards will serve as a platform for agents to increase awareness for their business within the industry,” she said.
The application form can be accessed here.
