School fined $56k but opposes identification

The director of a private training school has escaped a criminal conviction, but the school has been fined $56,000 over the unapproved enrolment of international students and making false representations online.

But the identities of the man and school remain secret after appeals were lodged in the High Court on Friday.

Last week, Judge Brooke Gibson’s reserved decision was released to the Herald after a sentencing hearing in the Auckland District Court in July.

The director and the unregistered private training establishment pleaded guilty at the trial, on March 12 this year, to 33 charges — 16 for the director and 17 for the school — over Education Act breaches.

The charges, brought by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) in 2016, were for unapproved enrolment of international students and false representations that the school had consent to assess against certain unit standards. As an example, it charged fees for a student enrolled in a dog-grooming course for accounting-based unit standards.

The school also claimed its courses were NZQA-approved and included unauthorised usage of protected terms such as “New Zealand” to describe its courses. As well, an advert on its website read “accredited NZ qualifications from $25 per week”.

It ran online courses and also used websites in Europe and Australia.

“There was a clear false misrepresentation in the material published on the website,” Judge Gibson said in his decision. “Anyone reading the website would have been led to believe the [school] was offering an approved training scheme.”

The school’s website also said it let students enrol in courses without requiring details of their New Zealand residency, citizenship or visas.

Court documents obtained by the Herald showed in July 2016 a prospective student asked the school if NZQA approved its courses. Replying in an online chat, a school employee said “many courses are NZQA approved”. None had such approval.

The school’s breaches also included enrolling at least 34 students into its small-business accounting course and offering the educational business unit standards without NZQA permission.

Judge Gibson said the director’s “culpability is essentially based on his carelessness”. The company was convicted on each charge and fined $56,000. It was also ordered to pay court costs of $2210. While discharged without conviction, the director must pay $24,000 towards NZQA costs.

NZQA is appealing the decision to discharge the director without a conviction.

An application for permanent name suppression for the director and school was refused, and that decision is being appealed.