This week’s series on widespread cheating and fraud at schools for international students has prompted many readers with first-hand knowledge of the scams to contact the Herald. Here are some of their stories.
Students with fake test results
I have worked at three tertiary institutes. At one of them students with fake English test results are only being caught when they reach the classroom, because the company doesn’t care. Some of these students have stolen others’ student ID numbers and NZQA numbers from other polytechnics in NZ. But because students have paid, then the tutors are bullied for raising the issue. Students who go out on internship suddenly “disappear” and ethical staff who raise this issue or threaten to go to Immigration are fired or bullied until they have breakdowns. The company is obsessed with making money at all costs. And now they are filling the staff with corruptible non-English speaking staff to teach . . . The Government needs to take a serious look at what the purpose is of this international student education . . . Because there are so many people who are being passed on courses they never intend to do solely for a visa, so that they and their families can come into New Zealand and live off what the NZ taxpayer has already established.
False hopes, used as cash cow
I had an Indian learner who had originally come to the institution to do the diploma in business. However, his English was so low that he was moved to the ESL section in the hope that his English would improve. Despite our best efforts, he stayed in that class for more than six months without improving. He became very depressed and told me that his family had mortgaged their farm in order to pay for him to come here. He twice asked me to marry him (or find him friends who would) so he could get a visa in order to bring his family here. All the teachers were aware of his struggles, but the institution kept him because he was a cash cow and continued to give him false hope that he would eventually be able to do the diploma. The kid was working through the night to support himself, and would fall asleep in class.
Give them the answers
I taught at a polytech over a number of years where the shift of students in my classes went from mainly Kiwi kids to almost 100 per cent Indian. On one occasion when I informed my supervisor that more than 50 per cent of the class had failed an exam, she said: “You can’t do that, we’ll be out of a job.” So what happens is that students get resits, then sometimes even a third go. Other ways promoted to get students to pass is to teach the test; give them the same test again (the one they failed) after drilling them on the test; or just give them the questions they failed again rather than the whole test, after spoonfeeding them the answers.
Chefs are as cheap as chips
I have just left hospitality after 18 years as a chef. The student visa system has ruined the industry, and it will take a long time to recover. Skilled chefs are being driven out of the industry, or driven offshore as the availability of unskilled (yet supposedly qualified) chefs willing to work 20 hours for minimum wage is at a saturation point. I’ve had a chef from [tertiary institution] who could only poach eggs in a microwave. He held level 5 cookery. When queried, it turned out he had essentially paid to pass. $15k was seen as cheap, as it meant he could be working instead of going to class.
Science hit by low wages
Over the years I have seen firsthand the damage this student visa policy has done to the science sector. Wages have remained static in our sector and fallen across the board. New graduates are studying science in droves, but cannot compete with the volume of student visa applicants, all of whom are studying “food science” and “microbiology”. Looking at the CVs, most have no grasp of written English and are willing to work for minimum wage. I receive around 100 of these junk CVs per advertised role.
Employer lies to Immigration
I know of an employer in my town that lied to Immigration NZ about a guy who worked in her kitchen being the baker. This employer is currently lying to Immigration NZ about a waiter that has become a manager despite the fact that a couple of years ago another barista/ waiter became the “manager” and now has residency. There is actually a real manager and the owner working in the business. The latest fiasco makes this the fifth time this employer has lied to Immigration.