The SMH story focused on a company called 'MyMaster', run by Yingying Dou, which is marketed to international students, particularly from China. MyMaster is alleged to run a service wherein students can pay (up to $1,000, depending on the subject) for essays and assignments to be written for them, which they can then submit as their own.
While it’s quite likely the service (and no doubt other, similar outfits) is also used in university feeder colleges (such as Pathways, Foundation and ELICOS), reports from many IEU members suggest that the problem is even more widespread than that. In the race for the international student dollar, colleges regularly encourage teachers to pass students with borderline (or worse) results, so that they can proceed to higher-level English courses and full university entrance.
Teachers are understandably reluctant to make a fuss about such practices, but it is clear they are widespread, and have been going on for some time. Certainly when your correspondent was last in the ELICOS classroom a decade ago it was common practice to “move up” students, regardless of whether or not they merited it.
The root cause of this phenomenon is the increasing reliance of the education industry on the extra funding that international students provide, with around 15% of funding for all universities coming from this source (and up to 40% at some universities). The recent cuts to higher education touted by Christopher Pyne can surely only exacerbate these problems.
This issue has the potential to be as damaging to the hugely important education export industry (the biggest non-mining export in Australia) as the infamous 'visa-schools' scandals of several years ago. It is incumbent upon the federal government, then, to step in and help clean up the mess.
Agreement making
In recent weeks, the Union has been negotiating for a new enterprise agreement with Taylor’s English Language Program (TELP), the language school associated with Taylor’s College (owned by Study Group) in Waterloo. Negotiations have been amicable and reasonably productive so far, though the parties are now crunching the outstanding issues of salary, job security and additional leave. It is hoped that a settlement can be reached by the end of the year, but there a still a few roadblocks to navigate before then.
The Union has also started the process for the next negotiations with Navitas English Pty Ltd (formerly known as ACL), where the current agreement expires in the middle of 2015. Officers from the IEU have begun visiting the 10 Navitas centres to ascertain the views of members, with the plan of presenting a finalised Log of Claims to management before Christmas.
Season’s greetings
This will be the final Present Tense for 2014. From everyone here at the IEU, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and prosperous (in every way) New Year. See you in 2015!