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墨爾本驚現大量“鬼校”，教室空無一人！大批留學生不上課，拿學生簽入境隻打工
這樣的學院往往集中在租金較低的辦公樓中，在Queen St 190號，就有20所不同的學院提供200門課程供學生選擇。然而站在這棟辦公大樓前，你卻看不到多少進進出出的學生。
《悉尼晨鋒報》報道稱，在一些大樓的門廳內，手寫的標誌引導著學生前往這些提供培訓的“學院”或“院校”。然而，在多次走訪這些學院後，發現幾乎沒有學生。有些地方，甚至連燈都沒有開。
從表麵看，這個蓬勃發展的產業正在為成千上萬的留學生提供教育，尤其是來自印度和尼泊爾的學生。而實際情況是，許多學院幾乎空無一人。
有些學院甚至並不指望學生能出現，他們表示，法律並沒有要求他們強製要求學生出勤，並指出還有很多其它類似的空無一人的學院。
在7月份的一項法律變更後，學生最多隻能在線學習三分之一的課程，其餘課程必須親自到場，那麽這些學生去了哪裏呢？
悉尼大學的學者Salvatore Babones表示，他們可能是在打工，這也正是這些“名義上的學生”原本打算的。
“他們並沒有真正在學習，他們隻是買了一個昂貴的工作簽證，”他說。
去年，Babones出版了一本關於澳洲驚人的留學生增長的書，他認為在某些情況下，澳洲的學生簽證實際上起到了低技能工作簽證的作用，已經成為教育機構的搖錢樹。
Babones說到：“如果澳洲想要從南亞引進低技能勞動力，那麽應該以誠實的方式來做，收取合理的簽證費，允許他們來澳洲工作。”
Babones等一些專家表示，這種留學生人數的激增，對我們的教育和移民係統都是一種嘲諷。
今年，澳洲首次在一年內湧入了50萬留學生。
十年前，澳洲迎來了來自印度和尼泊爾的3.2萬名留學生及其家人。而到今年6月份，這個數字已經攀升至14.3萬。
此外，來自中國的留學生數量從十年前的5.4萬人增加到今年的9.9萬人。今年僅印度的增長就非常迅猛：高等教育的申請人數從3月份的每月3000人躍升至6月份的每月8000人。
Babones認為，雖然大部分的學生都是自願入學了不一定要求出勤的培訓學院，但他們仍然是受害者。
“他們的簽證，實際上是工作簽證，卻被要求以學習的名義為澳洲的大學和學院買單。”
來自印度、尼泊爾和中國的學生數量空前激增，導致墨爾本市中心的“鬼校”也出現了激增，那裏有近300所私立職業學院。僅在Queen St，就有70所在聯邦政府注冊的私立學府。
（圖片來源：《悉尼晨鋒報》）
現在這樣的學院如此之多，以至於其他一些希望學生出勤的教育機構不得不努力競爭。
“如果你讓學生感到上課有壓力，他們就會轉到那些不會施加壓力並且可以讓他們工作的學院，”經營著一家聲譽良好的汽車修理培訓學院的Rajeev Minhas說到。
烹飪和汽車修理工都是目前很受歡迎的證書課程，因為它們提供了獲得永久居留權的途徑。
Minhas從2007年開始就在職業教育領域工作，他說，那時的學院可以強迫學生上課。但現在，幾乎不可能與那些提供相同課程但不指望學生來上課的學院競爭。
澳洲內政部長Clare O’Neil非常了解留學教育問題，她的一位發言人表示，聯邦政府“繼承了一個充滿漏洞的移民係統，完全沒有為我們的國家利益、本地工人或來到這個國家的人提供服務”。
今年晚些時候，澳洲政府將發布一項新的移民戰略，試圖解決國際教育中的問題。這些問題在今年開始的一項議會調查中被公開提及，並即將發表報告。
同時，還有前維州警務署長Christine Nixon對移民係統的審查，這兩項調查均受到了《時代報》、《悉尼晨鋒報》和《60 Minutes》去年報道的推動。
參與調查的聯邦工黨議員、前維州政府國際教育負責人Julian Hill表示：“要清除那些不誠實的教育提供商和代理商，必須下決心做出艱難的決定。”
但Hill也指出，也有許多職業學院為各種各樣的學生提供了高質量的教學，並對疫情後經濟複蘇中廣為出現的技能短缺問題做出了重要貢獻。
“但在底層，信譽良好的教育提供者提出的問題非常令人擔憂，一些私立職業學院和狡猾的中介機構對移民製度的操縱和行為是不可接受的。”
報道稱，據一位未被授權公開發言的政府消息人士透露，聯邦政府可能會在今年晚些時候實施改革，包括打擊在境內的教育代理，可能會讓學生在大學和學院之間轉學變得更加困難，並給予澳洲技能質量管理局（Australian Skills Quality Authority）和大學監管機構更多的資源和權力。
該機構監管私立學院，並在維州有三名檢查員，他們可以對大學進行未經通知的查訪。它表示，不需要實地檢查人員來評估一所大學是否遵守了規定。
該機構在一份聲明中表示：“我們有效地瞄準了（職業院校）的質量風險，不受員工所在地的限製。”
教育中介靠安排學生來澳洲的簽證來賺錢，來自Global Reach的中介Ravi Lochan Singh已經為澳洲招募學生長達32年了，他說，許多報名了大學然後轉學到學院的學生其實就是工人，不是學生。
他說，一些私立學院瞄準大學生，讓他們“放棄攻讀學位，轉而攻讀成本低、靈活性高的文憑”。這意味著經常有大學從他們的家鄉，尤其是印度，招收了學生，然後成千上萬的學生流失到了職業學院。
澳洲國際教育協會（International Education Association of Australia）的首席執行官Phil Honeywood一直深度參與了一係列努力，對教育中介實施更好的監管。
他表示：“最近抵達的移民開辦了數量驚人的私立國際學院，他們利用了來自自己文化背景的留學生。你不得不質疑，這些學校的一些所有者是否更多地是受利潤驅使，而不是把教育作為一項公共利益。”
報道稱，近三個月來，《時代報》的調查反複走訪了墨爾本市中心的數十所職業學院。學生活動的缺乏令人震驚，即使在7月新規生效後，令在線學習隻能占用三分之一的時間，情況也沒有改變。
在《時代報》多次走訪學校中就包括Brighton Institute of Technology，它在Bourke St和Docklands都設有校區。該校教授烹飪、汽車機械和商業領導力，可容納722名學生。
《時代報》無法與該校的任何學生進行交談，因此並沒有任何暗示該校正在利用學生簽證。
在對這兩個校區的30多次訪問中，隻看到過三名學生從Bourke St校區出來，每次走訪其Docklands的教室時，也隻能看到少量的學生。通過Bourke St的公共入口走訪了該校位於樓上的一件教室，發現它從未被使用過，而在幾次走訪中，燈都是關著的。
當被問及一所教授烹飪和汽車等實用課程的學院為什麽鮮有學生時，該校的一位發言人表示，這是管理像他這樣的學院（隻教授國際學生）的全國慣例，並沒有出勤的要求。
發言人稱，該校並“沒有被要求監控出勤率”，“像許多其他（職業學院）一樣，本校維持著一個政策和流程，來監督學生們的進步，以確保他們取得令人滿意的課程進展。”
澳洲技能質量管理局在一份聲明中指出，“讓學生出勤規定變得更清晰”，將有助於提升其監管該行業的能力。
它還表示，過去曾在2014年和2018年針對Brighton Institute of Technology做出了兩次調查結果。但該學院向行政上訴法庭（Administrative Appeals Tribunal）提出申訴，審查了該權力機構作出的這兩個決定，並在之後達成協議，將調查決定擱置。
《悉尼晨鋒報》報道稱，位於Queen St的澳洲職業教育與培訓學院（Australian Vocational Education and Training Academy）也多次被走訪，但很少看到學生出勤。該學院的注冊招生人數為1500名學生，其教室通過Queen St 51號的一個難以發現的後台階進入，有一個手寫的標誌引導學生：“上課請走側門樓梯到夾層樓。”
報道稱，在對這個學校進行的九次走訪中，在場的學生基本上不會超過十幾個。該校也沒有回應多次尋求置評的請求。
另一所學校，Level Up，與澳洲職業教育和培訓學院有關聯，並在其樓上運營。注冊招生人數為544人。
澳洲職業教育和培訓學院是少數幾個被維州政府的職業教育資助項目終止資格的機構，該項目旨在幫助提供該州所需的技能。
州政府的一位發言人表示，該學院的資格之所以被剝奪，是因為“嚴重違反了職業教育和培訓資助合同”。
澳洲技能質量管理局表示，在過去的三年中，他們接到了關於這個學院和Brighton Institute of Technology的投訴，並對兩者進行了一係列“正在進行、即將進行或近期才停止的監管活動”，沒有對該學院不利的發現。
雖然許多學校學生稀少，但在其他一些學校，在教師出勤的日子裏擠滿了學生，以最大限度地提高回報。
在King St的Einstein College，7月份開設的急救課程的考勤表顯示，應該是20名學生的課程，卻有73人出席。其中的實習任務包括完成基本的緊急生命支持和心肺複蘇訓練。
該學院的一名代表也認為，參加課程的學生太多了，所有上過這門課的人現在都被邀請“參加新的再培訓課程，班級規模要小得多”。
澳洲技能質量管理局表示，Einstein College在2020年2月的一次審計後，被發現“不合規定，並收到了書麵指示，以糾正違反規定的行為，包括培訓、評估和入學程序中的義務”。
Royal Greenhill Institute of Technology （也被稱為Gurkha's）是墨爾本最繁忙的職業學院之一。由維州的尼泊爾名譽總領事Chandra Yonzon所擁有，學校的學生中有約20%來自尼泊爾。
Yonzon稱，他的學校並不僅僅麵向尼泊爾族裔，但行業內很多其它的學校卻會這麽做。
《悉尼晨鋒報》在報道中強調，文章沒有暗示Gurkha's或Yonzon有任何違規行為。
他說：“現在開設的一些其他學校，80%甚至90%（的學生）都是尼泊爾人。”
Yonzon表示，墨爾本的職業學院正在如雨後春筍般出現，這影響到了像他這樣提供真正教學和培訓的學院。
Yonzon稱：“他們的課程售價非常低，”並表示，一些學院告訴學生，“不用來上課，隻需要交學費，然後我們會安排出勤記錄，這影響了我們試圖做正確事情的培訓學院”。
Rise of the ghost college: Thousands of students are enrolled in the city but they aren’t in class
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/rise-of-the-ghost-college-thousands-of-students-are-enrolled-in-the-city-but-they-aren-t-in-class-20230808-p5duwu.html
By Clay Lucas AUGUST 19, 2023
They stand largely empty, hiding in plain sight, their little-used classrooms scattered through office buildings all over Melbourne’s CBD. In the exploding foreign education industry, they call them ghost colleges.
There are often several in lower-price office blocks. At 190 Queen Street, there are 20 different colleges where students can choose from 200 different courses. Stand out the front of that Queen Street office tower, though, and you won’t see many students coming and going.
In the foyer of some buildings, handwritten signs point students to the “institute” or “academy” within, offering training. Yet months of visits to many of these colleges found a near total absence of students. At some, the lights weren’t even on.
On paper, this burgeoning industry is providing tens of thousands of international students with an education – particularly students from India and Nepal. In reality, many of the colleges are near deserted.
Some don’t expect students to turn up, noting that the law does not require them to enforce attendance and pointing to other similarly deserted colleges.
After a law change in July, students are limited to online learning for a maximum of one-third of their classes – the rest must be done in person. So where are they?
University of Sydney academic Salvatore Babones says they are likely at work — as these supposed students had always intended to be.
“They are not genuinely studying. They are simply overpaying for a work visa,” he said.
“If Australia wants to import low-skill labour from South Asia, it should do it in an honest way,” Babones said. “Charge a reasonable visa fee and admit them to work.”
Experts such as Babones say the explosion in international student numbers has made a mockery of both our education and immigration systems. This year, Australia hit half-a-million international students arriving a year for the first time.
A decade ago, Australia welcomed 32,000 international students and their families from India and Nepal. By June this year, that had risen to 143,000. China went from 54,000 a decade ago to 99,000 this year. The growth this year from India alone has been ferocious: applications for tertiary education jumped from 3000 a month in March to 8000 by June.
Babones argues that while most students willingly enrol at training colleges that did not necessarily require attendance, they were still victims.
“Their visas, which are in effect work visas, nonetheless require them to subsidise Australian universities and colleges under the pretence that they are actually here to study.”
The unprecedented boom in students from India, Nepal and China has led to the proliferation of ghost colleges across Melbourne’s city centre where there are just under 300 private vocational colleges. On Queen Street alone, there are 70 private colleges registered with the federal government.
There are now so many colleges that other education providers who do expect their students to attend are struggling to compete.
“If you put pressure on students to attend, they switch to a college where there won’t be pressure and they can work,” said Rajeev Minhas, who runs a reputable college training students in automotive mechanics. Both cookery and auto mechanics are popular certificate courses right now because they offer a pathway to permanent residency.
Minhas has been in the vocational education sector since 2007 when, he says, colleges were able to compel students to attend classes. Now, it was near impossible to compete against colleges that offered the same course but did not expect students to show up, he said.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil is well aware of the issues surrounding international education, with a spokesman saying the federal government has “inherited a migration system shot-through with rorts and completely failing to deliver for our national interest, for local workers or for people coming to this country”.
A new migration strategy will be released later this year which will attempt to address issues in international education. These have been publicly highlighted both by a parliamentary inquiry that began this year and is due to report soon, and by former Victoria Police chief commissioner Christine Nixon’s review of the immigration system – prompted by reporting late last year by The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and 60 Minutes.
“Weeding out the disreputable providers and [education] agents is going to take determination and tough decisions,” said federal Labor MP Julian Hill, who is on the inquiry and is the former head of international education for the Victorian government.
Hill says many vocational colleges offer high-quality teaching to a diversity of students and make a critical contribution to skills shortages plaguing the overheating economy in the post-pandemic recovery.
“But at the bottom end, the concerns raised by reputable providers are deeply worrying. There is unacceptable behaviour and manipulation of the migration system by some private vocational colleges and dodgy agents,” he said.
According to a government source not authorised to speak publicly, it is likely the federal government will implement reforms later this year including cracking down on onshore education agents, potentially making it more difficult for students to transfer between universities and colleges, and giving more resources and power to the Australian Skills Quality Authority and the universities regulator.
The authority regulates private colleges and has three inspectors in Victoria who can make unannounced visits to colleges. It says on-the-ground inspectors are not required to assess whether a college is complying with the rules. “We effectively target risks to quality [vocational colleges] and are not constrained by the site location of our staff,” a statement from the authority said.
Education agents make their living arranging visas for students to come to Australia. Global Reach agent Ravi Lochan Singh has recruited students to Australia for 32 years and says many who enrol in universities and then move to colleges are in reality workers – not students.
He says some private colleges target university students “to drop out of the degrees in favour of low-cost and highly flexible diplomas”. This means that often, universities recruit students from their home country, especially India, and then lose thousands of them to the vocational sector.
International Education Association of Australia chief executive Phil Honeywood has been heavily involved in previous attempts to better regulate education agents.
“[There are] an alarming number of private international colleges owned by recently arrived migrants who are taking advantage of students from their own culture. You have to question whether some of these owners are motivated more by profit than by education as a public good,” he said.
The lack of student activity was striking and did not change after new rules in July which made online learning possible only a third of the time.
Among the schools repeatedly visited by The Age was the Brighton Institute of Technology, which has campuses in Bourke Street and Docklands. The school teaches cookery, automotive mechanics and business leadership, and has capacity for 722 students.
The Age was not able to speak to any students from the school and therefore does not make any suggestion that it is exploiting student visas.
During more than 30 visits to both campuses of the school, just three students were seen exiting the Bourke Street campus, and a handful at its Docklands classroom on any visit. Visits to an upstairs classroom accessible via a public entrance on Bourke Street found it never utilised, and the lights were off on several visits.
Inside one of Brighton Institute of Technology’s classrooms.CREDIT:CLAY LUCAS
Asked about the absence of students at a college that was teaching practical courses such as cookery and automotive, a Brighton spokesperson pointed out that the national code of practice governing colleges like his — teaching only international students — had no attendance requirements.
Brighton was “not required to monitor attendance”, the spokesperson said. “As is the norm across much of the [vocational college] sector, Brighton maintains a policy and processes to monitor the progress of its students to ensure that they are making satisfactory course progress.”
The Australian Skills Quality Authority said in a statement that “greater clarity” in the rules around student attendance would support its ability to police the industry.
It also said it had made findings against Brighton twice in the past — in 2014 and 2018. The college had applied to Administrative Appeals Tribunal to review both decisions made by the authority, and had subsequently reached agreements to set aside these decisions.
Also visited repeatedly with few students in attendance was the Australian Vocational Education and Training Academy on Queen Street. Registered to accommodate 1500 students, its classrooms are accessed via a set of hard-to-find back steps off 51 Queen Street. A handwritten sign directs students: “For class, use side door stairway to mazzaine (sic) floor.”
The handwritten sign in the foyer showing the way to AVETA college in Queen Street.CREDIT:JUSTIN MCMANUS
Over nine visits to this school, there were rarely more than a dozen students present. The school did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Another schoool, Level Up, has links to the Australian Vocational Education and Training Academy and operates on the floor above. It is registered to service 544 students.
The Australian Vocational Education and Training Academy is among a handful of companies terminated from the Victorian government’s vocational funding program to help deliver skills needed in the state. A spokesman for the state government said the academy had been cut from eligibility “due to material breaches of their vocational education and training funding contract”.
The Australian Skills Quality Authority said it had received complaints in the past three years about AVETA and Brighton, and had “active, pending, or recently closed regulatory activities” for both. No adverse findings have been made against AVETA.
While many schools have few students, others cram students in to maximise returns on the days teachers are in attendance.
At Einstein College in King Street, attendance sheets obtained for a first-aid course run in July – where participants were expected to have completed practical tasks including basic emergency life support and CPR – showed 73 in attendance in a class meant to have 20 students.
An Einstein College representative agreed that too many students had done the course, and that everyone who attended had now been invited “to attend new re-training classes in much smaller class size”.
The Australian Skills Quality Authority said Einstein College had been found to be “non-compliant after an audit in February 2020 and provided with written directions to rectify breaches of conditions including obligations in training and assessment and enrolment procedures”.
The Royal Greenhill Institute of Technology (also known as Gurkha’s) is one of the city’s busiest vocational colleges. Owned by Chandra Yonzon, Victoria’s Honorary Consul General to Nepal, about 20 per cent of students at the school are Nepalese.
Yonzon says his school does not target the Nepalese community but that many others in the sector do.
The Age does not suggest Gurkha’s or Yonzon have engaged in any wrongdoing.
“Some of the other schools opening up now, nearly 90 per cent or even 95 per cent [of their students] are Nepalese,” he says.
Yonzon, who also owns the well-known Gurkha’s Nepalese restaurants, says vocational colleges around Melbourne are “mushrooming” and that this is affecting colleges like his that provide genuine teaching and training.
“They are selling courses for a very cheap price,” says Yonzon, adding that some colleges tell students “don’t come to the class, just pay the fees and then we organise attendance [records]. This is affecting the training colleges trying to do the right things”.
“We are determined to support the Commonwealth and state agencies that are collaborating ... to ensure non-genuine [vocational] providers are eliminated from the system,” he says.
