There are a couple of reasons for the drop in the number of international students attending Avon Maitland schools this year, according to school board officials.
Avon Maitland District School Board Superintendent Jodie Baker said the first one is the Ministry of Education has made it more expensive.
“The ministry has chosen to put in a tax levy, if you will, for international students, so that's an additional charge that increases our fees. So that makes us, maybe, not as comparable as other provinces," she said.
She added that they also lost out on international students who want to go to Stratford schools.
“The other thing that hurt our numbers is the Stratford renovation, with having all of the students on one campus, it wasn't reasonable to bring in international students, but Stratford is a very popular choice for international students," said Baker.
Baker adds they now have a full-time recruiter, something they haven't had for almost two years, so they expect the numbers to bounce back next year.
