The international education sector was dismayed on Monday afternoon to hear of the sudden closure of IH (IH) Sydney Training Services, with final classes delivered that day in all nine IH locations (TKN 091224). The initial dismay quickly gave way to confusion and concern when a joint announcement from the Administrator, Glenn Franklin from PFK Melbourne, and Greenwich College’s General Manager, Roxana Ene, said that “we have arranged for all current and future IH Sydney Training Services students to be exclusively transferred to Greenwich College, effective immediately”.
This advice was followed by a media release from NextEd Group, owners of Greenwich College, confirming that it had “acquired exclusive rights to communicate with students impacted by the recently announced closure of IH Sydney Training Services”. Earlier that day, NextEd Group had requested a trading halt on the ASX, pending its release of an announcement.
The news appeared to be positive for international students impacted by the closure, as Greenwich said that most students would transfer to equivalent courses matching their IH enrolments and tuition fees paid upfront to IH would be honoured.
However, there was swift reaction from parts of the international education sector, including education agents, questioning the IH/Greenwich arrangement under the Education Services for Overseas Students Act 2000 (ESOS Act) and rules of the Tuition Protection Service (TPS) and asking about students’ rights.
A quick read of the ESOS Act and the TPS advice to students shows that when a provider closes or doesn’t provide the course the student enrols in for any other reason:
The provider must:
- arrange for the student to be offered an alternative place in a course that the student accepts the offer in writing; or
- provide a refund of any unspent tuition fees.
The TPS has advised “If you are not satisfied with the replacement courses your provider has identified, you can ask to receive the refund instead.”
The Koala has heard from many students and agents who read the administrator’s message were left thinking that students had no choice and were unclear on the option of refunds or how the TPS works.
Although the announcement indicated the “TPS is supportive of the transfer agreement to Greenwich as their goal is to ensure the seamless transfer of students”, by Tuesday morning, English Australia (EA) had issued a holding announcement.
It said that it was “actively working with the TPS, regulators, and the appointed administrator to identify and implement solutions for those impacted. We will provide further updates in the coming hours and days to guide students and stakeholders on the best next steps”.
Late yesterday afternoon, EA put out a statement to say that it had “been in communications with IH Sydney executive team and then the appointed administrator as well as with the TPS and ESOS regulators to address issues and concerns, and to identify solutions and provide support for those impacted. We note that as a result of this input, new communications have now been issued, publicly correcting initial communications with students and agents by the administrator and other parties”.
The EA statement outlines the steps that the administrator must take, as provided by the legislation, and it cautioned all providers to “ensure they fully understand their obligations under the ESOS Act, the ESOS Regulations, and the National Code with respect to communications with students and agents and to enrolling students”.
English Australia is hosting a webinar for its members tomorrow at 11am, Thursday, 12 December, including a presentation by the TPS covering details of provider obligations, student obligations, and student rights.
The full EA statement is available here, and it includes details about the webinar.
