A consultancy firm, Brix Group Int’l, says its target is to ensure that foreign education reaches students from middle and low income families in Nigeria, noting that schooling abroad should not be the exclusive preserve of the elites.
Speaking in an interview with journalists in Abuja, Sunday, the Chief Executive Officer of Brix Group International, Dr. Sadasivam Rajendran, said the firm has the capacity to facilitate the admission of low income students who want to study abroad.
Rajendran disclosed that Brix is in partnership with institutions in Germany, India, Turkey and Austria, with access to free education services, especially at master’s degree level, which students in Nigeria may not be aware of.
“I can give you a quick example that the current study abroad aspirers may not be aware of; and that is the free education opportunity in Germany where students won’t be required to pay a single Dollar or Euro in tuition fee.
“This is one of the numerous wonderful projects which some European countries have put in place to assist their citizens as well as citizens of other nationalities.
“Our students are not exposed to these things. So our primary objective of having this academy and the system is to expose the students to these kinds of scholarships and free education programmes,” he said.
However, he noted that candidates seeking admission to undergraduate and postgraduate programmes must have good grades in Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) and bachelor’s degree.
“I will work hard to ensure that low income students, who don’t have enough money but have good scores in WAEC, NECO or Bachelor Degree, are given admissions if they have the passion of studying abroad.
“Personally, I feel that access to having quality education, be it locally or internationally, by studying abroad should not only be an opportunity for the elite community. It should also go to middle and low income households,” he said.
Speaking on why he started the consultancy group, he said too many Nigerian students are being scammed over the issue of admission and academic visas to study abroad.
“For a long time, a decent number of people and groups aspiring to have their education abroad have fallen victims to fraudulent recruitment agents who would promise scholarships, university admissions and visa counselling services, for no small fee; but at the end of the day, these poor individuals end up being disappointed with no proof of university admission or questionable conditional scholarship offers.
Rajendran said last year, over eight students were successfully admitted into Indian institutions and another in London, through Brix Group.
“We facilitated a number of them for free education programme in public universities, which means the public universities don’t offer scholarship because the education is free. However, this programme leans towards a master’s, hence you will be required to score good grades in German language, plus a distinction in your bachelors degree.
“In addition, we have CIT University in Punjab, India, which offers a tuition fee from a million naira for a three year bachelors degree programme, including accommodation,” he said
Brix Group, he said, is an umbrella for different consultancy services on education, training and training facilitation, which includes Brix Academy that provides language training programmes, IELTS, GMAT, ICAN, ACCA trainings, JAMB, WAEC, NECO training for students, foreign language training programmes, among others.
“In 2016, we started with small training programmes like IELTS classes, foreign Language programs, ICT training under Brix Academy banner, and went on to start the consultancy service in 2019 under ‘Level Up Study Abroad’ brand just before the global Covid-19 pandemic.”
