Education

Agencies blamed for study scams

By Zhao Yanrong (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-12 09:38

Chinese agencies that connect students with overseas studies opportunities are in the spotlight again after the closure of five private schools in Australia run by Global Campus Management Group (GCMG).

The schools, which closed in November, include GCM Fashion Institute, Meridian International School, Meridian International Hotel School, International Design School and Meridian College.

Many Chinese students told METRO their agencies had strongly recommended schools from the group when they applied.

"There were 30 students from a high school in Xiamen transferring to my school earlier this semester," said Jimmy Qiu, a hotel management student who studied at Meridian International Hotel School.

He said the agencies continued to send students, even though the schools' future seemed uncertain.

Song Baoying, a senior manger at the Australia-China Educational and Cultural Development Center, agreed.

"We heard the rumors six months before the schools closed but many agencies still sent their clients to the Meridian schools. It is terrible," Song said.

Most students and parents are not familiar with overseas education and trust the recommendations of agencies that can then over-promote some institutions.

The Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE) published two warning letters to students last year. The first warning came in July, when 10 private schools in Singapore were dismissed from the Case Trust for Education program. The second came in November, after the closure of the five private schools under the GCMG in Sydney and Melbourne.

In fact, more than 10 colleges have shut their doors in Australia since May 2009.

On Nov 6, Julia Gillard, the Australian Minister for Education announced that the GCMG had entered voluntary administration.

The result was as many as 3,000 international students - including 1,265 Chinese students - could not continue their studies.

The MOE asked students to be more careful when deciding where to study overseas.

The MOE has published a list of 15,000 qualified colleges and universities in 33 countries - including Australia and Singapore - on its website at www.jsj.edu.cn.

At the same time, the MOE is suggesting that students only deal with agencies listed on the same website.

Students should obtain authoritative information through the universities' official websites and information released by foreign governments, rather than trust less known agencies found on the Internet, it said.

Some agencies reportedly provide fake Chinese education certificates for their clients, even though they know their applicants are unqualified for the education program in the overseas universities.

They promise the universities will not find out. But after students arrive in the country where they hope to study, the universities investigate and uncover fake documentation and cancel the student's enrollment.

Agencies often also put the word "international" before the names of schools they are recommending and claim they are partners to some of the world's most famous universities.

In fact, those "international education groups" turn out to be companies run by Chinese businessmen.

Some agencies recommend programs at language schools as a "must" or a "test-free" first step before enrollment at overseas universities but the language schools are often unconnected to the university and their qualifications are not recognized by the university, meaning students still need to pass a language exam to enrol at the university.

Some agencies also mislead students and parents about potential degrees. They translate "diploma" into "degree", and "college" into "university".

"It may help the agencies make more money in the short term, but it damages everyone in the relationship," Song said.

"Families have saved money for years in order to send their children overseas to study, but their children could get a better education at a normal university in China."

"It also wastes a lot of time for students and we have heard quite a lot students complaining about that issue. And schools' reputations are also damaged because of the high expectations," she added.