Two colleges in Aus close, Indian students affected

Updated on: Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Melbourne: Two private colleges in Australia have been closed by a state regulator after they failed to meet basic education standards, putting in jeopardy the future of over 100 students, mostly from India.

Australian Institute of Career Education and Australian International College of Commerce were closed yesterday after it was found that they had inadequate learning materials, deficient kitchen facilities for training hospitality students, and failed to keep proper student records, 'The Age' reported.

A total of 129 students, mostly from India and China, studying commercial cookery have been left in limbo. Some were due to finish their courses in less than two weeks.

"Students who are displaced as a result of college closures must, by law, be found alternative colleges or have their course fees refunded," the report said.  The newspaper said it believed  Australian International College of Commerce also had inadequate staff to teach the students it had enrolled.

The closures bring to 11 the number of colleges that have shut since July, either because of a failure to comply with regulations or because of financial woes. In total, more than 3000 international and domestic students have been affected.
 State education regulator Victorian Registration and Qualification Authority said it "found the colleges to be significantly non-compliant with relevant registration
standards.

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