Let's Ask ASQA - Week 8

Once again, please accept my apologies for the husky voice. Despite that husky voice, though, I have a question for week 8, and I hope you're ready for it!

In last week's article (because I had lost my voice), we explored the Commonwealth Government's snap decision to make some urgent changes to Australia's VET and international sectors, with those changes really being about eradicating non-genuine students (aka, as the media have called them, Ghost Colleges), we saw the government also increase the cost of living calculator by a modest 17% and protecting the integrity of Australia's qualification systems by cracking down on fraudulent certification from the Australian Qualifications Framework ("AQF").

To this week's question...

From the PRISMS website

The concurrent study function in PRISMS that allowed students to hold concurrent enrolments has been identified as an avenue to avoid transfer restrictions under the?National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Providers 2018 (National Code).

Standard 7 of the National Code restricts student transfers in the first 6 months of their primary course of study. This provision protects the interests of both providers and students.

Providers will not be able to concurrently enrol students who have not completed 6 months of their principal course.

Standard 7 conditions for release, including the requirement for providers to approve or decline requests for release during the 6-month transfer restriction period, will continue to apply.

Minister Clare was reported as saying, “This change will work to stop predatory ‘second’ providers from enrolling students before they have studied for the required six months at their first provider...This will help ensure the integrity of one of our biggest exports while cracking down on dodgy operators.”?

This week's question, therefore, is an extension of that announcement. Given that providers are expected to provide international students with a release in the best interests of the student, and not allowing a release is inconsistent with the intention of Standard 7, it remains unclear how the removal of the concurrent CoE issue supports the integrity of Australia's international education system. Students are still able to bypass their principal course and move on without completing six (6) months of their principal course.

Standard 7 of the National Code of Practice for Providers of Education and Training to Overseas Students 2018 is detailed below:

Standard 7

Overseas student transfers

So, with that intention in mind (the expectation that providers will release students upon request so as not to interfere with the student's best interests), Standard 7 of the National Code allows the international student to leave their principal course and get CoEs from other education providers around Australia. These practices have been a significant part of the international education sector for many years, and it's unlikely to change now.

How do the Commonwealth Government and ASQA expect this decision to have the far-reaching consequences it purports to? Or...

Is it more 'puffery' from a government trying to 'reassure' the public that ghost colleges are being pursued?

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