Australia: Government acts to prevent collapse

The federal government is taking belated steps to prevent a collapse in Australia's multi-billion dollar education export industry with signs of a possible sharp fall in the lucrative Indian market. Some universities and vocational colleges are already experiencing the impact of declining numbers of Indian students following a spate of widely reported attacks on them in the major cities. That bad news has been followed by further reports of shonky vocational colleges ripping off students and offering illegal access to permanent residency visas for high fees. In Melbourne and Sydney, two vocational colleges have been shut down after audits found they were operating with inadequate facilities and unqualified teachers. Hundreds of mostly Indian students found themselves part-way through courses that could not be completed at the colleges although they are expected to be relocated to other institutions.

Read the complete article by Geoff Maslen on UNIVERSITY WORLD NEWS website - http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20090731104703774.