The coils of corruption

A few weeks ago, when the issue of attacks on Indian students was at its peak, no one anticipated that in consequence, it would open up a can of very unpleasant worms. But now, this is exactly what’s happened, as we discover substandard levels of education for students in questionable educational institutions, dubious immigration agents here and in India, and scams galore.

what is unsurprising when one thinks about it, is that the entire scam seems to be orchestrated with the buy-in of all parties. even Government bodies are being pulled up for not being stringent enough in their maintaince of standards. This suggests a conspiracy which, now that a substantial part of it has already been exposed, threatens to stem the lucrative flow of revenue from students coming here from India, allegedly to study. The reality is that education has become an easy way to gain a permanent residency in Australia, and students, immigration agents, educational institutions and even the authorities have all been in cahoots to ensure that whatever happens, they meet their goals. Through this system which reeks of corruption, students gain a relatively easy PR status, immigration agents and educational institutions earn plump fees and the Australian Government is happy to turn a blind eye as long as the money keeps flowing in.

The genuine ones who come here for a legitimate education lose out, because educational institutions don’t take them seriously and undermine their levels of dedication, involvement, intelligence, language skills and most importantly, their sincere desire to study.

The Expose

The ABC1 program Four Corners, aired on July 29, comprehensively covered all aspects of the student issue, from a completely different, yet unsurprising angle. In a documentary that was researched over several weeks, reporter wendy Carlisle revealed how dubious business practices are being used to rip off foreign students seeking legitimate qualifications in Australia. She delved into the medium of education, talking to students from various educational institutions (from aviation to vocational training), who were vociferous in their condemnation of the pathetic levels of education they had received in relation to the exorbitant fees they had paid. Their helplessness was palpable, as most of them who had resorted to the law had been thwarted by clever legalities, and eventually, they have ended up as the losers. within certain educational institutions, students were given little or

Corners

These institutions seem to believe that ALL students come here as wannabemigrants, and should all be treated with the same levels of contempt and nonchalance. for students who’re looking for an easy escape from India, the simplest thing is to contact dubious colleges who will provide estimates that put the contribution of each international student to the Australian economy per year at $28,921, and NSW could expect to lose about $289 million per year if the number of Indian students were to drop by 50 per cent. no training, in fact one of the students enrolled for a cooking course had not even seen the inside of a kitchen within the college, and he doubted if one even existed.

Agents in India have reported a drop in enquires ranging from 20-50%, with a lot of students opting out of courses, despite being granted study visas. Australia’s “Group of eight” coalition of universities has also voiced concerns about a projected fall in enrolments next year, especially from India. A spokeswoman for NSW education Minister Verity firth said the Government would ‘‘continue to work to ensure international students can feel confident with the standard of education’’ delivered by the tertiary education sector. The State Government established a ministerial taskforce on international education last year to investigate the welfare and recruitment practices, quality of education and training being provided to international students. A report from this taskforce is still to see the light of day.

Now since Australia allows students to apply for permanent residency, this option has become an easy way to migrate into the country. Apart from bogus courses, a student can buy english language tests for a price that can cost up to $5000. Work experience certificates for students on vocational courses are also on sale, and if one doesn’t have the money, they have the option of working for nothing, creating a source of cheap labour. everyone has a portion of the pie, as immigration agents recommend students to ‘contacts’ in restaurants, who can supply them with these fake documents, of course, for a price.

Giving education a bad name

The students seem the worst sufferers in this situation. The genuine ones who come here for a legitimate education lose out, because educational institutions don’t take them seriously and undermine their levels of dedication, involvement, intelligence, language skills and most importantly, their sincere desire to study. These students are now tarred with the same brush as the ones who are here simply to get themselves a PR.

“Last year more than 70,000 Indian students came here to buy an education. egged on by immigration and education agents, many were told if they enrolled in cooking, hairdressing and accounting courses they would not only get a diploma but they could also qualify for permanent residency in Australia,” revealed Four them with an entry into Australia, for a price. Their intention is simply to get here, and inveigle themselves into a permanent residency. And of course, if one has the money and the contacts, yes, everything’s possible. But what about the genuine students and the raw deal they’ve been experiencing? who takes responsibility for their plight? Students who have summoned up the courage to go to relevant government authorities with their grievances have either been ignored or worse found themselves subsequently under investigation by the government, reports Four Corners for ten years now Australia’s foreign student education sector has been on a massive growth spurt. first it was foreign students seeking university degrees. More recently it’s the vocational education sector that’s been expanding. “Between 2007 and 2009, Indian university students enrolled here grew from 20,342 to 22,033, a modest rise. Indian enrolments in the vocational sector erupted from 14,893 to 51,990,” claims Luke Slatterly in his article in The Australian. These statistics clearly prove that students have been taking advantage of vocational courses to gain entry into Australia

Cash cow concerns

The NSW economy is already facing a potential loss of about $300 million in revenue from Indian students, as Indian education agents have lately reported that new student inquiries have halved. Apart from negative media citing attacks on Indian students over the past few weeks, the education scam that’s coming to light will add as a further deterrent to prospective students. Access economics

Melbourne’s educational institutions are also suffering a drop in demand. Vicechancellor of Melbourne University Glyn Davis said there were early indications of a dramatic fall in applications from Indian students. “we’ll know in the next couple of weeks what it means, but I’m anticipating a quite sharp fall in the number of Indian students who elect to come to Australia,” Professor Davis said on ABC radio, responding to the question about exploitation of international students by training college operators allegedly involved in scams. Professor Davis said a reduction in Indian students was a “great loss” for Australia. “Many of them do choose to stay and contribute to our nation after they graduate, so to lose that cohort is really distressing. To lose it because of such unscrupulous behaviour as is being reported would be particularly tragic,” he said. why has the system been allowed to get to this stage of corruption?

(The Indian media) are quite content in chasing the ‘racism’ ghost, without even referring to the scams perpetrated by some of their Indian counterparts.

“well basically they’ve been bedazzled by the dollars ...they could proudly say this is a $15 billion industry, more than wheat, wool and meat put together, there’s perhaps an understandable reluctance to look at the foundation of the industry,” says Bob Birrell, from the Monash University’s Centre for Population and Urban Research.

Stop the rot

The Australian Government is now being forced to sit up and take notice. Simply because the whopping $15.5 billion contribution to the economy from overseas students is now poised for a dramatic drop. Without proper policies or policing, the Federal and State governments have let this scam grow into mammoth proportions which has tarnished the reputation of the entire education system. Access to fake documentation has cast a shadow on the integrity of the immigration system and its related bodies.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith says the Federal Government is tightening the regulation of the migration agent industry. “Of course it’s very concerning on both fronts. On the migration front,

Corners, Ms Horder admitted that it was a small sign that change is coming. “Well, that’s good to see,” she said. “There are others, we’ve given the Government quite a large number, a list of agents that we thought should be pursued by the department. I don’t know what’s happened to that. So I think one raid does not make a solution. I think they’ve got to be more diligent now in getting the people who are operating outside the law and the people who are exploiting international students.”

Making a mountain…

No guesses for the Indian media’s reaction to the latest revelations of scams against its students, because, ‘Yes, its racism’. This is the precise headline blaring through Indian media right now, and more in relation to the Indian-origin reporter for Four Corners, who was attacked, rather than the actual scam.

Four Corners journalist Wendy Carlisle told ABC News it appeared the attacker may have been Indian. “Someone came up and just hit her and ran off ... our reporter says it appeared that that man was an Indian man,” Carlisle said. But that fact has been scarcely reported in India and the allegations of racism in Australia have continued. The quality of reportage in Indian media seems to be going from bad to worse, with an unnatural hunger for anything that can incite the public’s opinion, in most cases in a negative way. With their blinkered approach, it’s a wonder that they get any factual or accurate reporting done! They are quite content in chasing the ‘racism’ ghost, without even referring to the scams perpetrated by some of their Indian counterparts. Perhaps it’s the fight to survive in a country where media machines jostle to be in the public eye, and blowing an issue out of proportion seems to be the only way to get attention.

Australia is currently the Indian media’s bugbear, and I guess we just have to live with this until they find a more promising option.

The final analysis

Obviously, the Australian government has to pull its weight and take immediate measures to seek out the spurious educational institutions and immigration agents, and they need to do this on a priority. The future of the students must be secured, specially those studying in default institutions or ones that have filed for bankruptcy (like Sterling College). A support system must be put in place instantly, where students can go to air their grievances and ask for advice, or even locate placements in alternative institutions.

But let’s keep in mind that it’s not the entire industry that’s corrupt, but a few institutions, and although there’s a strong possibility that they will all be tarred with the same brush and considered suspect, many of these institutions are more than capable of providing a reliable education and learning environment for its students. The same applies to immigration agents, because several do genuinely make an attempt at helping students without resorting to money-making scams. And when the clean-up begins in earnest, these bonafide education providers and immigration agents will emerge with a clean chit. And the ultimate winners will be the students, who will benefit not just from a good education, but the possibility of becoming valued citizens of Australia.