Melbourne private high school has been shut down
The school which generated about $1million in revenue per year from students was found to have had extensive breaches of regulations governing overseas students, according to a report on the ABC.
It remains unclear what will happen to the visas of 70 students of the school – some who reportedly paid $18,600 per year in tuition fees.
According to the ABC, documents filed with Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT), indicated the failure of some students to sign in for classes for weeks at a time was not investigated by the school, despite visa requirements that stipulate they must sign in twice a day. It said that the teaching of English language was also a particular concern, with audits from 2010 to 2014 revealing the school failing to comply with VCAA standards.
The Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) ordered the Melbourne Senior Secondary College (MSSC) to shut down because it failed to comply with a number of matters in the Education Services for Overseas Students Act which included the following:
- Inadequate records on working with children checks for adults overseeing, living with up to 14 students under 18
- “Disturbing finding” that teachers were pressured to inflate grades
- “Serious concerns” about the academic standards and quality of education
- Unsatisfactory attendance records despite the need for data to comply with visa requirements
The school is appealing the closure order at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT). The school’s principal, Jian Wang, did not respond to email and phone messages from the ABC.
“But in his submission to the VRQA, Mr Wang countered that in the 11 years his school had been operating, 500 students had passed their VCE and the school had contributed $18 million to the Victorian economy,” notes the ABC.
Mr Wang apparently received an award from the City of Melbourne in 2010 for his contribution to small business.
Source: Migration Alliance
