Students stuck in Australia waiting for govt answers

By Yan Jie (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-10 08:31

Some of the 1,200 Chinese students left high and dry after four schools closed in Australia may face difficulties getting their all-important graduation certificates.

"These Chinese students are hugely affected (by the closure)," said Guo Xiaojuan, an official at the Chinese consulate general in Melbourne. "It is a big blow to them."

Any student's plan to apply for permanent residence in Australia will also be delayed because a certificate is needed for such a status.

Some of the students' visas expire in about a month.

About 750 to 800 Chinese students in Melbourne were enrolled in three private schools under the Global Campus Management Group that went bankrupt last week.

About 400 more were affected by the closure of a Sydney school run by the company.

Anson Liu, 15, from Guangdong province, paid $11,100 per year to study at the Meridian International School's Sidney campus, managed by the company.

"I was surprised last Friday to know that the school had closed," Liu said on telephone. "I have nothing to do these days other than sleep and hang around."

Liu said he and his parents are not worried about his studies in Australia because he believes the Australian authorities will resolve the problem.

According to media reports from Australia, the collapse has left as many as 3,000 students, mostly international, in the lurch.

Five officials from educational authorities in Australia met yesterday with the students.

The students, mostly from India, packed the two-story town hall in Melbourne.

Local authorities offered students whose visas are about to expire a 28-day buffer period to find a new school.

They can then renew their visas at the new school.

Students at a secondary school run by the company, the Meridian International School in Melbourne, are less affected by the closure, though they have to find a new school to take their certificate exams.

Students at technical and further education colleges, the Meridian International Hotel School and the International Design School, demanded that their credits be valid at new schools so they do not have to retake courses.

These students usually study at least two years to get enough credits for certificates.

The Australian education ministry will to talk with students affected by the closure today in Sydney.

More than 141,000 Chinese students were enrolled in Australian schools from January to September, a year-on-year increase of 17.9 percent.

The enrollments make China the largest international student presence in Australia, according to the Australian Education International, the international arm of the country's education ministry.