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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.
Comments
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Tuesday, 27 October 2015Michael, you really should do a little more investigation before you start discrediting the ABC as a news source. Of all the possible sources of 'news' the ABC is one you can trust. As a teacher at this school, the reported breaches are 100% true - the case was not brought against the school by the ABC, the ABC just reported on it. There were also a lot of other very serious problems with the operation of that school - for a bit further information see: http://www.watoday.com.au/victoria/claims-phantom-students-sat-exams-at-melbourne-school-20150904-gjf9q2.html and http://www.vrqa.vic.gov.au/news/Pages/default.aspx#link91
This school really was a danger to both students and teachers - in terms of physical and mental wellbeing.
The closure of this school should have happened years ago - as indicated by other media reports regarding the Education department and governmental education authorities, there is a lot of covering up being done by people high up in these organisations - I know from personal experience, that they will take whatever steps are necessary to keep people quiet and to discredit those who raise concerns about them. -
Tuesday, 27 October 2015
I have never trusted any report presented by the media. They are consistently biased and prejudiced, and to quote a journalist who once worked for me "95% of what we say is not true".
To say anyone should give credibility to one investigation is ludicrous. Michael has rightly asked if any action was brought against the school because of a report by ABC? The mere fact that the ABC presents the information incites the public to question the government action and as a result an investigation. How many innocent people have been persecuted due to biased reporting?
Justifying the report is pointless unless you can provide evidence that all reports in the past by the ABC have been credible, accurate and complete in details If you cannot do this then the question has more weight than the answer given by teacher at MSSC.
Luckily we have a court system to deal with these situations but once convicted by the ABC or any other news release the firm or business is finished.
Responsible reporting. Not very often in the media here
Immigration blog
Any case that has been brought against any school or business from an ABC report has to be viewed with a wary eye. A bureaucratic ruling body always jumps nervously when the ABC makes assertions about a business under the body's authority. If the assertions are correct, we should wait to hear that from the VCAT. As for Mr Wang not responding to ABC, would you have replied if ABC had done a similar story on your business? No matter how correct your business operations may be, you would have to trust that ABC would reflect your response correctly to the public.