Education experts fear more college collapses as overseas students numbers wane

Just days after the collapse of Sydney vocational education provider Sterling College, an education expert has raised fears of more collapses in the sector, arguing that a lack of monitoring and regulation means it is impossible to know how many providers are under financial pressure.

Dr Phillip Toner, a senior research fellow at the Centre for Industry and Innovation Studies at the University of Western Sydney, says the collapse of Sterling College is not a one-off event.

He is worried that the strong growth in the education export sector over the past five years has not been complemented by increased monitoring and auditing of education providers for quality of services, delivery of services and financial viability.

“It’s not the black swan event that people are trying to portray it as. You just need to look at the regularity of these closures,” Toner says.

“It does make you wonder if there is a potential ABC Learning Centre situation lurking around the corner. We just don’t know.”

Sterling College collapsed late on 27 July, just a few weeks after Melbourne International College was placed in administration. Many in the sector expect more collapses. There have been reports that the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority is auditing 17 private training colleges considered to pose a ‘‘high risk” to international students.

Gautam Gupta, founder of the Federation of Indian Students in Australia, told The Age he expects half of these to close.

Despite calls from the Opposition and the Greens to launch an inquiry into the sector, Federal Education Minister Julia Gillard insists the sector is performing relatively well.

“Our international education system overall, even in the days of the global recession, is performing well and holding up well. We have around half a million international students studying here,” she told ABC Radio.

Gillard has also invited international students to an “International Student Round Table”
that will take place in September.

The Federal Government is also working with state and territory governments to increase targeted audits of education providers.

But there are signs that the turmoil is damaging the reputation of Australia’s education sector. The Australian has reported that international student recruitment body IDP Education Australia has seen an 80% fall in appointments by students at its 14 Indian offices.

Phil Toner says the private education sector is struggling from a mismatch in objectives and incentives.

He argues the phenomenal growth in international students has largely been driven by demand for students enrolling in courses that allow them to access permanent residency as part of the Government’s efforts to fill skills shortages.

But Toner says research show many overseas students do not end up working in their area of study. “Very often, studying is just a mechanism to achieve permanent residency,” Toner says.

This state of affairs has allowed some education providers to deliver sub-standard services, with little risk of complaint from those students who see their course as a means to an end or are too worried about jeopardising their permanent residency to voice concerns.

He also says the education export boom may have attracted some operators who lack experience in the sector.