The Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn T.D. has announced the establishment of a task force aimed at protecting genuine students who have been affected by the closure of private colleges.
Five such private colleges have closed in recent weeks. The task force will be jointly chaired by officials from the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Justice and Equality and will be made up of stakeholders such as Marketing English in Ireland, the Irish Council for International Students, the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, Quality and Qualifications Ireland and others.
The goal of the task force will be to urgently:
o Coordinate efforts regarding protection of learners affected by private sector college closures;
o Determine the number of students who have not yet been satisfactorily accommodated (either through placement or immigration extension).
o Assess what existing capacity is available in the sector to make reasonable accommodation for genuine students and what further steps need to be taken.
o Oversee a system that seeks to make reasonable accommodation for students.
The task force will meet for the first time on Friday (23rd of May) and is expected to complete its work within weeks.
Announcing the establishment of the Task Force, Minister Quinn said, “We have every sympathy for the genuine students who have been affected by the closure of these private colleges and this Government wants to assist and co-ordinate a sympathetic response to them.”
“We take such a strong view of the impact these private college closures have on genuine international students and also on the wider need to protect Ireland’s reputation as a quality destination for international students that we are acting on several fronts.”
The Minister continued, “It is also important to note that the students who have been affected are being given grace periods with regard to their immigration status so that they can remain in Ireland, continue to work to support themselves and have the time to plan their next steps.”
“Alongside this task force, my colleague Minister Frances Fitzgerald and I are working on producing a strong quality framework for the international education sector to ensure that only genuine international students study in Ireland, to protect the learners that choose to study here and to ensure our international reputation for quality education is not undermined.”
Work is also on-going on the introduction of a new International Education Mark and Code of Practice for the sector.