The " Education " Jungle !

It has been made abundantly clear to most thinking people that the future for those who leave school with just a Higher School certificate will be economically hazardous.  This is fast becoming the age where qualifications will be critical to obtaining the type of employment that delivers a twenty-first century pay check.  The range of industries that require university level entry are expanding rapidly.

That " Education " market really is a jungle and it contains some voracious beasts of prey.  One has recently been unmasked and hit with an $8 million penalty, but a lot of people have had their hopes of a better life dashed and find themselves seriously out of pocket because of its predations.

Get Qualified Australia was a company offering skills certification by way of obtaining recognition of prior learning in industries such as beauty,construction and business.  The Federal court found it guilty of " Parasitic practices " and the now defunct  body was hit with a massive fine.  It had five thousand enrolled students and most of them can wave goodbye to thousands of dollars in fees.

The sole proprietor was found guilty of knowingly being concerned with the conduct of the company and hit with a personal penalty of  $ 500,000 and disqualified from managing a corporation for a period of seven years.   The company preyed on vulnerable people desperate to improve their employment chances and the illegal conduct included rolling people into courses with misleading marketing and not providing the services the customers paid for.  Refunds were refused, despite the company advertising a hundred percent money-back guarantee.

It is obvious that the sales strategy sought to sign up everyone offering without regard to whether they had any documentation likely to prove merit and to do so by way of grossly unfair contracts. The sales force were without an education background and were selected merely of a proven sales record in other industrial areas.  The entire operation reeked of deception.

Sadly, the governing body to education only managed to close down this shonky operation after the damage had been done and a vast number of people had lost money.  The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is tasked with overseeing that corporations are trading legitimately, but this comes into play after the entity becomes active in the market.   It is unclear precisely what checks and balances - and who has the task of ensuring probity - take place when a new marketing company sets up in business !

Australia is a major player in the education industry. Our universities are very attractive to students from India, China and many other overseas countries and adverse publicity about education scams can damage that spotless reputation.   It is essential that we have a close oversight of all education aspects and that even the initial marketing gets close scrutiny.  It would be obvious to the trained eye if those being signed up have the aptitude for the proposed education to be delivered.

Australia's reputation in education is a highly valued commodity.   We need to close down these  scams before they do any damage.  Obviously, whatever we have in place to do that is falling short of its objective !