Comments on: The great international student rort

By: Terry Kidd

Terry Kidd — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Alex Mitchell may be right about International Colleges being a rip off but he is not right when he unfairly targets the construction industry as a user of cheap labour. Obviously Alex has not been close to many construction sites during the last 10 years. If he had been he would have noticed that employers want/need skilled labour, not untrained cheap labour. He might also find that there are major OHS and IR/Union issues for employers if they seek to use cheap untrained labour.

Stick to what you know Alex because you obviously do not know construction.

By: Julius Grafton

Julius Grafton — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

I agree with a lot of this. I own an RTO (Julius Events College) and have am about to discontinue my overseas student accreditation (CRICOS). Our handful of foreign students are beautiful people who add to the fabric of our college but they require more face to face time, plus we must abide by a tonne of extra papework to comply with our obligations. Frankly I feel the majority of foriegn students in the VET sector are probably in colleges with fractional compliance. They must have 20 contact hours at college, we are required to report them if they don’t attend 80% or fail Units. We also have had approaches from Agents who appear to be ‘shopping’ colleges. They take a 20% commission. It is all ‘too hard’.

By: Sean

Sean — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

I would add to the bulleted list:
- It is in effect an export industry in that it brings in large amounts of overseas currency
- It makes landlords in CBD areas very happy, as they have a huge pool of tenants to keep rents high
- shopkeepers in the CBD areas are also very happy for the pool of consumers

We are essentially exporting the English language, although many students living crammed 8 to a CBD apartment gain very little practice in English from natives, limiting their exposure to English to Strine-talking bus drivers and other random encounters. One Chinese student said they used English less in Australia than at home. Other Shanghai students have arrived in Sydney to study in the U.Syd. area and the quality of life and the built environment of the area is *lower* than back home, and they are quite disgusted.

By: Mirek

Mirek — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Thanks, Alex, but you missed one other bullet point that Sean added: the extra profit that these colleges make. And, of course, if they go broke, not only the overseas students lose their fees, but the taxes and health insurance fees don`t get paid. However it`s a small price to be paid for the successive Governments being free-market, neo-liberal ideologues, espousing `user pays` principles. And furthemore, Australia, as collection of Australian citizens, has no cause to hang it`s head in shame, because they had nothing to do with this rort, and the ideologues in Government have really no capacity for shame or any other human emotion!.In the last analysis, it`s Capitalism`s logical trajectory.

By: Andrew J Smith

Andrew J Smith — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Shame, shame, shame…..as and education agent based in central Europe, agree with much, but also surprised at omissions and myths that carry on, with limited time:

1. No mention of the state sector, i.e. universities and TAFEs doing exactly the same but with the aura of state authority?
2. No intrusive review or inspections by industry, DEEWR or state education departments, they wait for complaints….even then they do not want to accept them…. DEEWR with the Education Services for Overseas Students is responsible for ensuring institution standards via CRICOS registration.
3. Regarding fees and insurance, if college goes broke students are guaranteed same elsewhere, and a student cannot get a student visa if no valid OSHC insurance from approved insurance companies.
4. Luckily the majority of students have a positive experience (I mean that ironically).

Now state sector:

1. Massive rorting and junketing going on, i.e. incessant offshore travel under the guise of marketing (remember VC of La Trobe, AUD600k of public money in 5 years he managed to spend on offshore travel, tip of the iceberg…..)
2. No media in Australia questions what state sector does, e.g. in my 10 years in the industry, have never met any institution with a marketing strategy….instead they have ”travel plans” e.g. emails to agents, ”Great news we have permission to travel to your region…”, or ”when is the next fair in you region we can travel to” (related, The Australian Higher Ed section now does not allow comments or feedback on articles…..)
3. State institutions, especially universities hide their international activities and income behind Pty. Ltd. companies so they are not legally obliged to divulge income and funds spent on marketing, i.e. travel…..
4. Many private institutions have been established and grown through state sector subsidies e.g. typical model, university running English and uni prep course for mostly Asian students, then corporatised, staffed and managed by university personnel, who also award themsleves compensation packages including shares etc. Surely this is a more serious conflict of interest? Or at minimum, wanting security of state employment, but freedom of independent contractors…..
5. For an example of junketing see upcoming European Association International Education http://www.eaie.org/antwerp/participants/index.asp?wat=country over 80 Australian university participants. This is in addition to international education fairs, NAFSA in US, IDP in Oz etc. etc.
6. Most wilful or at best incompetent aspect of international education in Australia, is the avoidance of internet based marketing etc. , now easily most effective, several university personnel complained, ”if we used the internet we would not need to travel”