Oz to ask India to crack down on unscrupulous education agents

Basant Kumar Mohanty

Canberra, Aug 26 (PTI) Australia will ask New Delhi to
crack down on the unscrupulous education agents in India who
give misleading information to students willing to pursue
studies in the private institutes Down Under.

Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard will take up the
issue with the Indian government during her visit to New Delhi
next week.

During her visit, Gillard would meet Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh, Human Resource Development Minister Kapil
Sibal and Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vailar Ravi.

"She will strongly take up the issue of unscrupulous
agents. She will ask for a mechanism to control them," a
senior government official said here.

There are over 500 agents in India working for
education providers of Australia. "They are supposed to give
correct information on educational institutions," the official
said.

According to India's Deputy High Commissioner V K
Sharma, there is a nexus between the education agents and
doggy colleges in Australia.

The agents give a rosy picture to students about the
private institutes and persuade them to come to Australia.
However, the students discover the pathetic affair of
institutes after they arrive here, he said.



There are instances of agents putting their money in
the accounts of the students to show that the student has the
ability to sustain his studies in Australia. This helps in
getting visa. Once the student reaches here, the agents manage
to take the money back and the student has no option than
working as unskilled worker in restaurants or shops.

There are more than 500 agents across India. However,
only 150 of them are accredited members of Association of
Australian Education Representative in India (AAERI), a body
acknowledged by the Australian government.

About 50 from these have e-Visa authorisation, said
Ravi Lochan Singh, the former immediate past president AAERI.

The agents with e-Visa authorisation enjoy good
reputation as agents. However, over 300 agents in India
operate without knowledge of the Australian government.

These agents persuade students to study in private
colleges in Australia which mostly offer courses like
community service, hairdressing and cookery.

These courses do not warrant huge infrastructure and
investment. The institutes pay 20 to 40 per cent of the
course fee as commission to the agents, said Mel Koumides,
director of private institute Academia International.

The Australian government has also initiated measures
to curb the practice. The amendment to the ESOS act, which has
been introduced in the federal Parliament last week, seeks to
make it mandatory for the institutes to declare their
overseas agents. PTI