Keep sights on dodgy colleges says ICOS Director
15/2/10 - Reacting to recent articles in the Irish Independent (Friday 12th February) on a so-called ‘bogus visa scam’, ICOS Director, Sheila Power, responded:
“There is nothing new in the stories, but it is a pity that the headline focuses on individuals who may be working illegally, rather than on the dodgy operators who continue to be allowed to offer poor quality courses of little educational value. The fact is that the 10,000 people now being subjected to scrutiny have been issued with legitimate student visas by the Department of Justice based on their enrolment at courses accepted by the Department of Education.”
“The Irish Independent article rightly points out that the Government has few problems with institutions offering higher level courses and a new regulatory framework, currently planned, will provide ‘greater opportunities for reputable institutions’”.
“In the meantime, however, the Government and the immigration authorities, in particular, will need to allocate the necessary resources allowing for more rigorous inspection of ‘colleges’ that are suspected of facilitating illegal immigration. While some ‘students’ are complicit in so called visa scams, many international students are innocent victims and find themselves trapped after they have paid over significant amounts in tuition fees for courses which exist often in name only.”