墨尔本惊现大量“鬼校”，教室空无一人！大批留学生不上课，拿学生签入境只打工
这样的学院往往集中在租金较低的办公楼中，在Queen St 190号，就有20所不同的学院提供200门课程供学生选择。然而站在这栋办公大楼前，你却看不到多少进进出出的学生。
《悉尼晨锋报》报道称，在一些大楼的门厅内，手写的标志引导着学生前往这些提供培训的“学院”或“院校”。然而，在多次走访这些学院后，发现几乎没有学生。有些地方，甚至连灯都没有开。
从表面看，这个蓬勃发展的产业正在为成千上万的留学生提供教育，尤其是来自印度和尼泊尔的学生。而实际情况是，许多学院几乎空无一人。
有些学院甚至并不指望学生能出现，他们表示，法律并没有要求他们强制要求学生出勤，并指出还有很多其它类似的空无一人的学院。
在7月份的一项法律变更后，学生最多只能在线学习三分之一的课程，其余课程必须亲自到场，那么这些学生去了哪里呢？
悉尼大学的学者Salvatore Babones表示，他们可能是在打工，这也正是这些“名义上的学生”原本打算的。
“他们并没有真正在学习，他们只是买了一个昂贵的工作签证，”他说。
去年，Babones出版了一本关于澳洲惊人的留学生增长的书，他认为在某些情况下，澳洲的学生签证实际上起到了低技能工作签证的作用，已经成为教育机构的摇钱树。
Babones说到：“如果澳洲想要从南亚引进低技能劳动力，那么应该以诚实的方式来做，收取合理的签证费，允许他们来澳洲工作。”
Babones等一些专家表示，这种留学生人数的激增，对我们的教育和移民系统都是一种嘲讽。
今年，澳洲首次在一年内涌入了50万留学生。
十年前，澳洲迎来了来自印度和尼泊尔的3.2万名留学生及其家人。而到今年6月份，这个数字已经攀升至14.3万。
此外，来自中国的留学生数量从十年前的5.4万人增加到今年的9.9万人。今年仅印度的增长就非常迅猛：高等教育的申请人数从3月份的每月3000人跃升至6月份的每月8000人。
Babones认为，虽然大部分的学生都是自愿入学了不一定要求出勤的培训学院，但他们仍然是受害者。
“他们的签证，实际上是工作签证，却被要求以学习的名义为澳洲的大学和学院买单。”
来自印度、尼泊尔和中国的学生数量空前激增，导致墨尔本市中心的“鬼校”也出现了激增，那里有近300所私立职业学院。仅在Queen St，就有70所在联邦政府注册的私立学府。
（图片来源：《悉尼晨锋报》）
现在这样的学院如此之多，以至于其他一些希望学生出勤的教育机构不得不努力竞争。
“如果你让学生感到上课有压力，他们就会转到那些不会施加压力并且可以让他们工作的学院，”经营着一家声誉良好的汽车修理培训学院的Rajeev Minhas说到。
烹饪和汽车修理工都是目前很受欢迎的证书课程，因为它们提供了获得永久居留权的途径。
Minhas从2007年开始就在职业教育领域工作，他说，那时的学院可以强迫学生上课。但现在，几乎不可能与那些提供相同课程但不指望学生来上课的学院竞争。
澳洲内政部长Clare O’Neil非常了解留学教育问题，她的一位发言人表示，联邦政府“继承了一个充满漏洞的移民系统，完全没有为我们的国家利益、本地工人或来到这个国家的人提供服务”。
今年晚些时候，澳洲政府将发布一项新的移民战略，试图解决国际教育中的问题。这些问题在今年开始的一项议会调查中被公开提及，并即将发表报告。
同时，还有前维州警务署长Christine Nixon对移民系统的审查，这两项调查均受到了《时代报》、《悉尼晨锋报》和《60 Minutes》去年报道的推动。
参与调查的联邦工党议员、前维州政府国际教育负责人Julian Hill表示：“要清除那些不诚实的教育提供商和代理商，必须下决心做出艰难的决定。”
但Hill也指出，也有许多职业学院为各种各样的学生提供了高质量的教学，并对疫情后经济复苏中广为出现的技能短缺问题做出了重要贡献。
“但在底层，信誉良好的教育提供者提出的问题非常令人担忧，一些私立职业学院和狡猾的中介机构对移民制度的操纵和行为是不可接受的。”
报道称，据一位未被授权公开发言的政府消息人士透露，联邦政府可能会在今年晚些时候实施改革，包括打击在境内的教育代理，可能会让学生在大学和学院之间转学变得更加困难，并给予澳洲技能质量管理局（Australian Skills Quality Authority）和大学监管机构更多的资源和权力。
该机构监管私立学院，并在维州有三名检查员，他们可以对大学进行未经通知的查访。它表示，不需要实地检查人员来评估一所大学是否遵守了规定。
该机构在一份声明中表示：“我们有效地瞄准了（职业院校）的质量风险，不受员工所在地的限制。”
教育中介靠安排学生来澳洲的签证来赚钱，来自Global Reach的中介Ravi Lochan Singh已经为澳洲招募学生长达32年了，他说，许多报名了大学然后转学到学院的学生其实就是工人，不是学生。
他说，一些私立学院瞄准大学生，让他们“放弃攻读学位，转而攻读成本低、灵活性高的文凭”。这意味着经常有大学从他们的家乡，尤其是印度，招收了学生，然后成千上万的学生流失到了职业学院。
澳洲国际教育协会（International Education Association of Australia）的首席执行官Phil Honeywood一直深度参与了一系列努力，对教育中介实施更好的监管。
他表示：“最近抵达的移民开办了数量惊人的私立国际学院，他们利用了来自自己文化背景的留学生。你不得不质疑，这些学校的一些所有者是否更多地是受利润驱使，而不是把教育作为一项公共利益。”
报道称，近三个月来，《时代报》的调查反复走访了墨尔本市中心的数十所职业学院。学生活动的缺乏令人震惊，即使在7月新规生效后，令在线学习只能占用三分之一的时间，情况也没有改变。
在《时代报》多次走访学校中就包括Brighton Institute of Technology，它在Bourke St和Docklands都设有校区。该校教授烹饪、汽车机械和商业领导力，可容纳722名学生。
《时代报》无法与该校的任何学生进行交谈，因此并没有任何暗示该校正在利用学生签证。
在对这两个校区的30多次访问中，只看到过三名学生从Bourke St校区出来，每次走访其Docklands的教室时，也只能看到少量的学生。通过Bourke St的公共入口走访了该校位于楼上的一件教室，发现它从未被使用过，而在几次走访中，灯都是关着的。
当被问及一所教授烹饪和汽车等实用课程的学院为什么鲜有学生时，该校的一位发言人表示，这是管理像他这样的学院（只教授国际学生）的全国惯例，并没有出勤的要求。
发言人称，该校并“没有被要求监控出勤率”，“像许多其他（职业学院）一样，本校维持着一个政策和流程，来监督学生们的进步，以确保他们取得令人满意的课程进展。”
澳洲技能质量管理局在一份声明中指出，“让学生出勤规定变得更清晰”，将有助于提升其监管该行业的能力。
它还表示，过去曾在2014年和2018年针对Brighton Institute of Technology做出了两次调查结果。但该学院向行政上诉法庭（Administrative Appeals Tribunal）提出申诉，审查了该权力机构作出的这两个决定，并在之后达成协议，将调查决定搁置。
《悉尼晨锋报》报道称，位于Queen St的澳洲职业教育与培训学院（Australian Vocational Education and Training Academy）也多次被走访，但很少看到学生出勤。该学院的注册招生人数为1500名学生，其教室通过Queen St 51号的一个难以发现的后台阶进入，有一个手写的标志引导学生：“上课请走侧门楼梯到夹层楼。”
报道称，在对这个学校进行的九次走访中，在场的学生基本上不会超过十几个。该校也没有回应多次寻求置评的请求。
另一所学校，Level Up，与澳洲职业教育和培训学院有关联，并在其楼上运营。注册招生人数为544人。
澳洲职业教育和培训学院是少数几个被维州政府的职业教育资助项目终止资格的机构，该项目旨在帮助提供该州所需的技能。
州政府的一位发言人表示，该学院的资格之所以被剥夺，是因为“严重违反了职业教育和培训资助合同”。
澳洲技能质量管理局表示，在过去的三年中，他们接到了关于这个学院和Brighton Institute of Technology的投诉，并对两者进行了一系列“正在进行、即将进行或近期才停止的监管活动”，没有对该学院不利的发现。
虽然许多学校学生稀少，但在其他一些学校，在教师出勤的日子里挤满了学生，以最大限度地提高回报。
在King St的Einstein College，7月份开设的急救课程的考勤表显示，应该是20名学生的课程，却有73人出席。其中的实习任务包括完成基本的紧急生命支持和心肺复苏训练。
该学院的一名代表也认为，参加课程的学生太多了，所有上过这门课的人现在都被邀请“参加新的再培训课程，班级规模要小得多”。
澳洲技能质量管理局表示，Einstein College在2020年2月的一次审计后，被发现“不合规定，并收到了书面指示，以纠正违反规定的行为，包括培训、评估和入学程序中的义务”。
Royal Greenhill Institute of Technology （也被称为Gurkha's）是墨尔本最繁忙的职业学院之一。由维州的尼泊尔名誉总领事Chandra Yonzon所拥有，学校的学生中有约20%来自尼泊尔。
Yonzon称，他的学校并不仅仅面向尼泊尔族裔，但行业内很多其它的学校却会这么做。
《悉尼晨锋报》在报道中强调，文章没有暗示Gurkha's或Yonzon有任何违规行为。
他说：“现在开设的一些其他学校，80%甚至90%（的学生）都是尼泊尔人。”
Yonzon表示，墨尔本的职业学院正在如雨后春笋般出现，这影响到了像他这样提供真正教学和培训的学院。
Yonzon称：“他们的课程售价非常低，”并表示，一些学院告诉学生，“不用来上课，只需要交学费，然后我们会安排出勤记录，这影响了我们试图做正确事情的培训学院”。
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.
