Opening Statement Bydave Moore, Irish Council for International Students (ICOS)

Opening statement byDave Moore, Irish Council for International Students (ICOS)

CLOSURE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE SCHOOLS

Introduction

This statement is in response to a request to appear before the Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection to make a presentation on issues relating to the recentclosure of five private colleges within a five week period during April and May 2014. These closures displaced several hundred international students who were already in Ireland and jeopardised the studies of many more who were booked, paid and yet to travel.

We are grateful to the Committee for the opportunity to share the views and experiences of our organisation– and the students we work with – on this matter.

1)Irish Council for International Students (ICOS)

ICOS isan independent organisation advocating for the rights of all international students in Ireland, whether studying in higher education, further education, in a language school or other setting. We were founded in 1970 and have witnessed an enormous growth in the international student population the intervening years. Our members are educational institutions – primarily at third level - and NGOs who are interested in international education and in working with government and other agencies to promote good policies and best practice in relation to the recruitment, access and support of international students in Ireland.

Direct support work with students who are experiencing difficulties with their colleges – generally small private colleges – has long been a vital component of our work, but one for which we have never received any core funding. As such, our entire response to the college closures situation - which has brought us into contact with over a thousand students - has so far been based on staff time funded from our reserves and member subscriptions, plus a massive (and unsustainable) add-on of volunteered time from staff and supporters.

This submission will particularly reflect our direct work with the affected students and the views expressed to us by students themselves.

The student body we are working with are mostly young adults in their twenties, with a high proportion coming from Brazil, Venezuela and other countries in Latin America to study English. For many, they were embarking on an exciting adventure, perhaps their first overseas trip, with a specific goal to boost their English skills, an increasing requirement to raise their employment prospects in their home countries. Whilst this is an especially common student profile, the affected students span a range of countries – from South Korea to Malawi – and extend to students studying on further education and degree programmes.

2)Context

It has been widely acknowledged, including by the Minister for Education and Skills, that there has been a lack of regulation of private colleges over an extended period. The need for added quality assurance measures and a ‘quality mark’ was put forward in 2009 by the former Minister for Education, Mr Batt O’Keeffe. These plans have had continued support in principle but slow delivery in practice, such that a consultation period on draft proposals is still ongoing at the present time, some five years later.

The proliferation of small private colleges has thus continued for a number of years with inadequate oversight. Around 270 private colleges are listed on the QQI ‘Internationalisation Register’, inclusion on which essentially confers the ability to recruit students who require study visas. This publicly available spreadsheet – headed ‘Approved Programmes’ – includes many colleges that are genuinely committed to the students and operating to high standards. It also includes quite a number with owners whose motives, ethics and activities are highly questionable. Behind a number of colleges – both closed and still operating – are webs of ownership and control that can be expected to unravel yet further.

Various factors can be seen as contributing to the recent spate of college closures – Eden College’s loss of government ACELS accreditation in February, publication of a Sunday Times investigation in April that shone a light on concerns over visa fraud and the consequent suspension of four colleges from the issue of new study visas.

However, none of the colleges were closed down by the authorities. In each case, the owners chose to shut the doors and leave students high and dry. Thus, ICOS has been repeatedly on the ground to support students left in shock and distress by a sudden announcement - or a curt notice taped to a locked college door.

The Minister for Education and Skills has acknowledged something that is plain to anyone familiar with the sector: that more colleges can be expected to close.

The key question for ICOS at this time is not what led to the closures but how many more will follow and how much more anguish and hardship for students is yet to come. The closure of private colleges is nothing new – a number closed in 2011 in particular – but what differentiates the current situation is the sheer extent of the student displacement involved and the lack of preparedness it has exposed.

3)Closures and Consequences

The current round of closures began when Kavanagh College shut its doors on 15th April. Four more followed within barely a month – Eden College, Irish Business School, Millennium College and Allied Irish College (Cork).

Students have expressed a great deal of shock, anger and disappointment about their experiences and enforced absence from classes. These responses from recent survey work:

I feel a lot of uncertainty. There is no guarantee that we are going to continue the course or that we are going to receive our money back ... Time is passing and I don't know what is going to happen.

This is not what I expected when I left home, all I want is to be able to pursue my dream.

I feell stolen! I was in Dublin for my holidays [to learn English], only for 4 weeks. I am sad and upset, I was saving money a lot of time for this.

Its strange how the owners of the college can get away so easily with it... Most of us are cash strapped and its not easy to pay tuition again in a short lapse of time.

This is so painful since am not working and now I can’t get job anywhere which leaves me homeless… the money that I brought from home is now finished

I have my GNIB [immigration card] that will be expired on the 30 of June 2014. Furthermore I am having problem at my work as they are asking for me to prove that I am on a working holiday until 1st September 2014.

I feel really disappointed about my experience in Ireland. It is not only that the college was close... it is that I haven't feel that the government help us with this situation.

These quotes reflect many of the key concerns of the students ICOS has been working with following the college closures:

Uncertainty and worry about their future studies
Issues of financial hardship – including significant issues for students from Venezuela who rely on a currency exchange programme that is no longer open to them
Anxiety over keeping immigration permissions in order and providing documentation for employers to explain the current situation
A sense of losing precious time that they will never get back
A feeling that they have been defrauded by college owners who have walked away with their money and bewilderment that nothing has seemingly been done

Top of Form

Bottom of Form

It is impossible to precisely quantify the number of students impacted by the closures. ICOS has met or connected online with over 1,000 students; more contact us every day. Immigration service figures suggest that 1,968 study visas were issued for the colleges that are now closed.

Based on ICOS’ records and follow-up research, the clear majority of the hundreds of students displaced were English language students. The current situation of this large group is varied and, in many ways, inequitable.

a not insignificant number have given up on Ireland and returned home early
a minority have attained places on other courses at no or minimal charge, frequently by direct approaches to individual colleges. In practice this has been little more than a lottery; students have tramped the streets and sometimes found sympathy with individual schools they have visited.
for students with savings or family resources to draw on, and especially those with a time critical need to be back in class (e.g. university entrance in September), many have pursued solutions that have involved spending significant additional money for new courses. However, not all have seen these courses approved for visa purposes, leaving some of these students stuck.
many students are waiting in the hope of a solution or because they lack the resources to do otherwise; some are clearly confused by the official advice and believe they have been told they have to take holiday until 1st September. Only Eden College students have been provided with any specific advice on what they should do to pursue another course. Whilst some students have focused on working, the lack of an official letter confirming the current position has sometimes been a problem; for those left without status at the time of the closures, this has itself been the issue and has led to instances of hardship. (ICOS has been working in conjunction with INIS to ensure that out of status students receive a temporary visa permission to 1st September and immediate immigration issues are therefore being steadily addressed).

Many of the same issues also apply for non-English language students – e.g. business, nursing and tourism courses. Since they require pathways to other programmes which are more complex to put in place, in most instances their best hope will be that of commencing again in September at another college, with due credit for their prior learning. Plans for further study, such as university progression, may have been knocked seriously off schedule in the process.

In addition to those already impacted by college closures, many more students feel they are living under the threat of being put out on the street. BCT Institute – a college with over 500 study visas on record with the authorities - was suspended from the issue of new visas and put under investigation on 14th April. Students say: “We want to have a voice in this complicated situation” and explain that each day they attend, they fear finding a closed sign on the door, knowing full well that a college that has ceased receiving new students cannot remain economically viable on any sustained basis. They have seen what has happened elsewhere and feel stuck, unable to gain the approval of immigration authorities to switch to other colleges. A growing number of this group are drifting out of status (i.e. their immigration permissions are expiring) and they have been offered no current way forward to renew or extend them.

Feedback from students indicates that they have frequently perceived ICOS as the only organisation that has shown them care and support in the current situation; communication and clarity from the authorities has been felt to be lacking.

The Minister for Education and Skills announced the establishment of a government task force on 21st May 2014, a step that ICOS had previously called for. We were invited to participate and have welcomed the opportunity to do so.

4)Challenges

Two months on from the first college closure, students have a wide array of questions and concerns that are not addressed by the very limited official information – largely focused on immigration matters – that has been released to students to date. ICOS is constrained in its support and advice role because of a lack of clear answers to key questions. Although work is underway through the task force to develop a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list, to which ICOS has submitted a number of recurring topics, the lack of early answers has been a problem.

Students frequently tell ICOS that they have heard nothing back weeks after sending emails to the addresses at the Department of Justice that they have been directed to as the only avenue for questions and enquiries, including requests to transfer to another course.

To date, there have been no official announcements or guidance arising from the task force. The media have, however, reported a proposal from the MEI language schools group. This is to the effect that displaced English students - who have already lost their fees from their previous college - be offered classes at a rate of €60 per week, equivalent to €3,000 for a one year programme.

Many students who learnt of this plan did not perceive it to be a fair proposal, with comments on the proposal including:

It’s really frustrating because pay again for something that you paid before. It’s no fair paying again and the owners of the different schools relax and with the money of all students. Where is the law? Refund the money if want that everybody pay again for a new course.

We know that the other schools don't have the obligation of accepting the students for free, it's business. But if somebody gave the ACELS certification to Eden... Some kind of ensure [insurance] should be included. The fact is: someone has to pay, and I don't want to pay it again.

The rights and entitlements of students under ‘learner protection arrangements’ is itself an issue. A number of students who booked English courses with Eden College while it was ACELS accredited and listed as an MEI member (i.e. prior to late February 2014) have said that they would have expected to be covered by the MEI ‘learner protection policy’when the college closed.

I'm really disappointed with ACELS and MEI. Everyone told me to buy a course in a college with Acels acredditation. I did and nothing happened. I'm three months without study English. My main goal here.

I can not help but asking this question, what is the use of MEI if they are merely connecting students to schools and the schools are seeing the affected students as another source of income. Students can go to any schools even without MEI's help if they can pay the tuition fees. It is a disappointment when students believed they could continue studying without additional tuition fees to a new school.

ICOS is concerned over the position of students who bought courses when learner protection arrangements were place. If transfer provisions are denied to these students, thiscould easily undermine the perceived value of learner protection going forward.

5) Long term solutions

ICOS has been thoroughly supportive of the principle of a quality mark system and has actively participated in consultation processes related to it.

High quality provision undoubtedly requires fewer, better monitored providers. ICOS is concerned to see a clear strategy developed to get from the present poorly regulated environment to that envisaged by the quality mark system.

ICOS’ submission to a 2013 consultation on the Green Paper on the ‘International Education Mark’ (IEM) included the following comment:

“When planning the implementation of the IEM, careful consideration will need to be given to the potential impact on students already on courses in colleges which fail to attain the IEM. It must be anticipated that a number of providers currently appearing on the Internationalisation Register will not reach the quality standard required for the IEM. Since a college that can no longer recruit internationally may no longer be financially viable, those students already on programmes, or who have already financially committed to courses, risk becoming the big losers. Lessons must be learnt from the fallout experienced following the collapse of a number of private colleges in recent years and plans and resources put in place to protect current students who may find themselves the unintended victims of the failure of their colleges to achieve the IEM.”

To ensure that the fall-out from recent college closures is not simply a foretaste of further distress and displacement to come, the transition to a new system must be extremely well managed.

Tomeet the needs and expectations of international students, a new quality regime must include robust learner protection arrangements and a proper support framework, including hardship provision for those who find themselves in difficult situations.

ICOS is happy to contribute to the process of finding solutions at every stage.