The journey
It was in 1987 that Arun Butani ventured into global education helping students study outside of India. Besides helping students’ keeping their interests in mind, Arun also took charge as president of the AAERI (Association of Australian Educational Representatives of India). In this capacity, he worked very closely with Australian Government. The company thus treaded on a path of high ethical conduct and superior service orientation.
Over the last 2 decades, A B Educational Avenues has earn the ‘trust’ owing to the keen commitment to students’ future and career. The company is proud to have assisted over 15000 students realize their global education dream since 1987.
A B Educational Avenues is currently led by Nikhil Malhotra, Director at A B Educational Avenues who is also driving the initiative of iSTEP mentors.
The goal
STEP mentors is an initiative to bridge the gap of a virtually non-existent involvement of teaching fraternity of India in the global education space. It is common knowledge that teachers in schools and colleges play very little role in shaping global careers of their students.
Based on extensive research done by us, we realized that this absence of teachers’ engagement in guiding students to opt for global education is due to THREE reasons:
- Lack of awareness about global education
- Lack of clarity on global education options available
- Lack of a dependable mechanism where teachers can play an active role
As a result of our research we founded iSTEP mentors to address these pain areas by::
- Setting up iSTEP Teachers’ Network along with iSTEP centres to help provide full support to teachers and the students recommended by them for relevant programs
- Providing certification program and domain specific knowledge/inputs to enable teachers. The goal is fully equip teachers on an on-going basis so that teachers can confidently mentor their students on global education options while teaching their class 11, 12 or Bachelors program students
- Creating iSTEP centres across India through our Franchisee network. This is a mechanism to connect with the teacher recommended students, and help them reach the right University at the right global destination
Who do we serve?
We serve the Indian teachers, students and the International Universities in Australia, Canada, UK and other countries.
- iSTEP mentors are intermediaries in the process of helping Indian students study globally
- We seek active help from the teachers asking them to join the iSTEP Network of Teachers. We certify these teachers, and enable them mentor their students on global education options
- We also engage in professional growth of teachers by providing them with all the inputs, and also engage in arranging for foreign university visits for the active members of the Teachers’ Network
- iSTEP helps the students based on teachers’ recommendation for their students. We assist the student with all the coordination, paperwork & formalities till they reach the International University with help of our franchisee network across major Indian cities
What are we offering?
For Teachers
- Knowledge inputs and on-going connect to help enable the teacher become completely equipped in global education in one’s area of study
- No fee to become part of the iSTEP Network of Teachers
- Teachers recommend the students, and pass them on to iSTEP for coordination of admissions process. iSTEP keeps the teacher informed about their student’s progress from ‘start’ to ‘finish’
- No monetary incentives are offered to teachers for sending students, however, iSTEP invests in teacher professional development programs
- Teachers actively engaged with iSTEP have an opportunity to visit foreign university as part of engagement and familiarization trips
For Students
- Complete documentation and paperwork help to reach the desired & most appropriate global university at the most competitive pricing
- Help students obtain scholarships and concessions in fees wherever possible
- English language coaching- IELTS, PTE etc.
- Pre-departure orientation, assistance including helping find accommodation in International cities
For International Universities
- Help the International Universities obtain enlightened and bright minds opting for global programs recommended by their teachers
- Increased awareness spread by Indian teachers engaging and understanding the global education system
- Inviting Indian teachers to visit International Universities for a far more enriching engagement with specific Universities
- University visit by Indian Teachers to impact positively leading to a higher inflow of qualitative applications queuing-up for admissions
