By Kristina Burke & Darin Ritchie
The school year has started poorly for Australia’s international education sector with news that eight English language colleges, owned by Japanese company GEOS, have collapsed. Over 500 students enrolled in the Melbourne branch of the college are now unable to complete their courses. This comes after the closure of numerous privately run colleges which specifically enrol students from overseas.
Australia’s international education industry has suffered another massive blow with the collapse of eight English language colleges, leaving 2300 foreign students around the country in the dark over their future. [The Age]
Australia and Victoria’s reputation as a quality education provider is again taking a battering and Victoria’s tourism industry will also be affected if international enrolments slow as a result. Apart from being tourists themselves, travelling in and around their study destination, international students stimulate visitation from family and friends over a long period, with their length of stay dictated by the length of their course.
A positive experience as a student will also influence return visitation to the study destination in the future. It’s not hard to imagine that the students left high and dry by collapsed colleges will pack their bags and never return.
It may be a case of a few rotten apples, but more closures will have the potential to poison the entire sector. In addition, these closures are compounded by the ongoing voilence coverage, which have already had an effect in some of our key markets.
It is vital for the Victorian economy as a whole for the international education sector to be cleaned up and its reputation restored, if we are to continue to reap the benefits of hosting international students and have any standing in the international education market.
[...] Recent Federal Government pressure on private colleges to “shape up” has resulted in the closure of several local colleges. [...]