•Firoz Thairnil
Westford Education Group (WEG) has been established with an objective to fulfil the aspirations of learners with diverse backgrounds from across the globe to attain internationally accredited qualifications delivered in an easily accessible manner in the form of onsite and online learning interventions. Headquartered in the UK with an expansive presence in UAE and India through its 8 campuses, Westford is fast emerging as a reputed brand of global education providers. In this extensive interview with Sundiata Post, the CEO, Firoz Thairnil who leads the group wide businesses spoke about their impact on African educational environment and plans for the future.
Who is Firoz Thairinil and how did he get into entrepreneurship?
I always had an ambition to be an entrepreneur from a very young age. In my journey which began immediately after my graduation, I failed multiple times in my attempt of opening different entrepreneurial enterprises. I eventually landed a job at a bank where I gained fifteen years of banking experience; I started off as a Retail Banking Sales Officer and climbed up the progression career ladder by becoming the Country Head – Retail Banking Sales of a leading National Bank in UAE. During this whole journey of a successful banking career, my burning desire to become an entrepreneur never ceased, I tried again, failed again in my quest of becoming a successful entrepreneur. It was around the year 2007 that I thought of going back to studies with a desire to upgrade my professional qualifications further, and I embarked on doing the MBA program from the University of Wales, which I did as an online student. This was a real game-changer of my life. This whole experience changed my perspective and my mind-set on business management. It was really a point of realization of the passion I possessed to succeed in business, rather than simply understanding the mechanics and scope of business functions. That is when the realization came that I had an indomitable passion and zeal towards people development. That showed me as a beacon light the pathway to indulge myself fully into a venture of education and training. The learning curve I had developed while studying at University of Wales as a student augmented my mind-set to look at the whole venture from a learner’s point of view, which made me realize the fine intricacies business management and leadership required.
When was Westford established and what was the motivation?
Westford was established in 2009, with the objective of providing quality and effective education to all aspiring communities around the world. The major motivating factor was my learning experience at the University of Wales online MBA program, including my passion towards people development.
Why was the emphasis given to business education?
That’s a good question. It’s probably because I was in the management field and every industry needs qualified management professionals. I felt that we can contribute effectively towards the society by building lives of people, by giving them the requisite knowledge, skills and abilities through educational programmes, which can open up a vista of opportunities for them. Having said that, our long term goal is to diversify our portfolios, so that we can add incrementally in the vast ocean of knowledge which people are seeking. We have further diversified into Art and Design, Teachers Training, Film and Media studies. We are planning to further enhance our portfolios in engineering and information technology.
Is the institution affiliated with any University and if yes, what was the reason for choice of choosing these Universities?
We are affiliated with multiple universities in Europe and the US. We have partnered with Cardiff Metropolitan University (UK), University Of Wolverhampton (UK), Guglielmo Marconi University (Italy), Universidad Católica De Murcia (Spain), Fort Hayes State University (US), Scottish Qualification Authority (UK), Pearson Education (UK), to name a few. Our first preference for choosing a University is the Government accreditation status given to the University in its respective country, in order to ensure that the qualifications attained by the students through us is valid and recognized throughout the world for their further educational progression, or help them in employment opportunities.
Is there any programme by the school tailored to the needs of African graduate students?
We currently offer our courses through four diffrent schools, Westford University College, Eaton Business School, Exeed School of Business and Finance and Athena Global Education. All the programmes offered by our schools are tailored to the needs of the students around the world, especially so in the developing countries. These are contextualized from a global perspective. We have a special interest in the African markets; to facilitate better learning opportunities in this market, we have employed many African nationalities as faculties and other staff members, in order to have good communications and understanding with all prospective learners from this region. We have recently launched a new division called Athena Global Education (AGE). This is a self-learning platform which provides a lot of flexibility to the learner with a highly affordable and easy payment structure. It follows a paper-module fee structure, which means that the Learner can start his Master’s Degree or Bachelor Degree programme by paying as little as USD 250. The students also have the option to complete the Master’s Degree within nine months or three years, as per their needs and motives. It all depends on the student’s capacity to invest time and money to fulfill his/ her future aspirations.
The core objective of this division is to spread education opportunities globally and make it accessible to all and not restrict it to few privileged learners only. This programme has been especially developed keeping in mind the African learners’ style, considering the current economic and political situation prevailing in this region. This could be one of the most affordable and flexible learning programme from an accredited European University in the region.
What has been the current response from Africa? Is it encouraging?
Yes indeed. We have been receiving a tremendous response from the learners of Africa; we have also recently conducted an Alumni Event Meet in Lagos this year, in which many past students attended this event. It was a great success as it helped us to establish our reputation through these successful students, who really are our true ambassadors. Based on our recent experience, we are planning to establish a regional office in Africa so that we can improve our credentials and connect with potential students who want to enhance their skills through a good learning experience.
In what ways can graduate business education be developed and enhanced in African Universities?
Of course, there are many good universities in Africa, with worthy practices. However, education sector is changing rapidly, and the current norms may not be adequate to meet the growing demands of a developing country. There can be a lag owing to decades of unrest due to geo-political and economic crisis which the region has gone through in the recent past. The current situation is highly dynamic and international changes are occurring very rapidly. With the advent of a global market, today the job-seekers need to compete with a global resource pool which is highly competent. Unless people can reach the competencies and skills which are at par with international levels, it will be very challenging indeed to compete and be successful in the corporate world. Thus the only viable option is to upgrade the existing Universities in consonance with the standards of International Universities. The whole process may take several years, as it will be a major paradigm shift of changing the present status quo, which is time consuming. A speedy option and solution for this problem can be to collaborate with foreign universities, which have the expertise and experience to effectively help in transfer of learning required in the contemporary environment. I can see that many universities are following this path, which is a good sign for the whole region. African countries are highly rich in having natural resources, as well as having the diversity of their varied culture. A highly skilled human resource will work as a catalyst and force-multiplier for bringing about the change in African economy.
Does Westford have any plans to partner with African or Nigerian Universities?
We definitely have plans to associate with some Nigerian Universities to provide dual certification for all learners. But we still are in the search to find the right universities to partner with in future.
What incentives does your institution have for applicants from developing and emerging economies?
All our propositions are focused on developing emerging economies. There are many institutions and universities with several options available to them in developed nations, but very few of them really understand the challenges faced by developing nations to identify their exact needs, or sometimes may give them less importance, or try one-fit solution for all, which may not work out in different regions. For us, our focus is very clear. We have designed our products and programmes, keeping in mind the needs of the African region specifically, and priced it accordingly which is affordable by maximum aspirants. We also provide an opportunity for networking with different global learning networks, which helps the students connect with the outside world, explore their career and business opportunities, and make them into good future leaders.
Africa has remained a continent with a lot of potential for almost 60 years since many African countries gained independence. What do you think is required to make the continent achieve its optimum potential?
As I have mentioned earlier, Africa is rich in natural resources, its culture and human resources. Enhancement of human resource skills is the critical issue here. We require to invest in our people and the best return on investment will come if we can help teach and train them to stand shoulder- to-shoulder with their global counterparts. If we can do that, Africa will be a force to reckon with to be able to stand head-to-head with all the developed countries in the very near future. Every aspirational dream can be fulfilled, but will require a lot of commitment from the leaders of the Nation and other stakeholders in public and corporate sectors. It’s a challenging operation, but am sure can be made possible with the support of international organizations.
How are the programmes of the institution organised? Is it possible for an executive based in Africa to study online?
Most of our programmes are designed to meet the needs of working class executives, regardless of where they are working. We offer undergraduate and postgraduate courses online; in the online mode we have multiple models of delivery, such as live interactive classesincluding the self-study model, where the learner can choose any model, based on convenience and his/ her learning preference. Our teachings and assessments are based on real-life application scenarios that are found at any workplace, which actually helps the learner to apply the learned skills immediately to the workplace requirements.
We also offer Bachelor’s Degree and Master’s Degree programs in UAE, where a number of African students study at our campus. Most of the students are able to move to a job in UAE during their studies, which helps them to develop their career further. We always endeavour to get our students placed in internships, as well as in employment opportunities available in UAE.
What special offers do you have at the moment and what is the flexibility of payment?
We always approach the African region with a lot of compassion and consideration. All our schools have an African scholarship scheme, where the fee is twenty five to thirty percent less than our normal fee applicable in other regions. In addition, we also offer a flexible payment scheme which helps students to manage their financial commitments prudently.
We are currently in discussion with The Open University (UK), which is the largest university in UK to develop a new scheme specifically for the African regions. It is intended to work closely with major employers in Africa to incorporate pragmatic and realistic learning in a workplace, as well as help corporates acquire talent for their various business enterprises. This could be a major game-changer for the African Educational Sector, as the learners will be able to pursue their education even if they do not possess any formal qualifications. We expect this to be launched in January 2020, and we are looking forward to change the face of African Education Sector by making the employers major stakeholders in this project.
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