New members and more educator association MoUs for Felca

The Federation of Education and Language Consultant Associations (Felca), the global umbrella organisation for the agency industry, has welcomed two new national agency association members in recent weeks and signed more MoUs with key educator associations.

At the annual Felca AGM in August, held on the eve of the ST Alphe UK 2025 conference in London, the Albanian Association of Study Abroad Agents – AASAA was accepted as a new member.

AASAA was officially launched earlier this year with the aim of boosting the professionalism, ethics and recognition of the agency business in Albania, and said that building affiliations with international industry bodies, including Felca, was one of its main objectives.

Following the AGM and a vote by its board, Colombian agency association ANEX has also now become a member of Felca, bringing the federation’s total representation to 16 countries.

Paolo Bariliari (right), President of Felca, speaking at the recent AGM.

“This is a very positive moment for Felca. In the last few months, we have had the addition of two national associations to the group – in Albania and Colombia,” said Paolo Barilari , President of Felca.

“It is something very positive to have new nationalities, new opinions and new points of view on the market, on the industry, and on the job that we do every day.”

Alejandra Crespo , Executive Director of ANEX Colombia, told StudyTravel Magazine, “ANEX chose to join FELCA to strengthen its commitment to excellence in the international education sector through collaboration and shared growth. This membership enables ANEX to exchange best practices, share challenges, and learn from similar associations and agencies worldwide.

“It also provides access to professional development programs for educational consultants, enhancing the skills and capabilities of ANEX members. Additionally, FELCA offers valuable opportunities to build strategic alliances with key international educational organizations, fostering a stronger network to support mutual success.”

Meanwhile, Felca has confirmed more Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) with national educator association members of Gaela – Global Alliance of Education & Language Associations , which traditionally holds its AGM alongside the Felca event.

As previously reported in June, Felca commenced a project of signing MoUs with national and international educator associations to mutually recognise quality and foster closer collaboration.

Following initial MoUs with IALC – International Association of Language Centres and Malta’s ELT association FELTOM , Felca signed further MoUs with the Canadian Association of Public Schools – International (CAPS-I) Languages Canada / Langues Canada and English UK .

In recent weeks, the Federation has confirmed MoUs with French language school association Groupement FLE EnglishUSA FDSV – Schools “Association of German Language Schools” and Spanish language school association FEDELE – Español en España .

Alejandra Crespo, Executive Director of ANEX Colombia.

Paolo explained, “The meaning of these MoUs is not marketing – that is something that the national agency associations should do – but that we recognise the mutual quality and professionalism of our agencies and schools, and also that we will work together in a more organised way to deal with the day-to-day topics that are coming up in the industry.”

Paolo added that Felca is in dialogue with the remaining members of Gaela, including English language school associations in Australia, Ireland, New Zealand and South Africa, and is hopeful of completing more agreements.

As well as the new members mentioned above, Felca – which was established in 2000 – also represents: ARSAA – Argentine Study Abroad Association ABELIO , Belgium; AMTE, Mexico; AREA (Alliance of Russian Educational Agencies) , Russia; ASEPROCE, Spain; BELTA , Brazil; FDSV – Agencies “Association of German Language-Tour Operators” , Germany; IALCA , Italy; JAOS , Japan; KAEA (Kazakhstan Association of Educational Agents ); KOSA , South Korea; IECA – Taiwan TIECA , Thailand; and UED , Türkiye.

By Matthew Knott

Source: StudyTravel Network

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