Stakes are high for more than 300 international students who will be sitting for an exam over the weekend that will decide their future in New Zealand after the untimely closure of their international college in Auckland.
There were claims that test results were falsified to ensure that students scored high enough marks to make them eligible for admission.
Talking to Newshub, former employee Jaswinder Kaur informed that she was instructed to fake the test results or risk losing her job.
“I was told to put five or higher scores... to make sure the student passed and we complied with NZQA requirement,” she said.
According to Newshub, NZQA’s investigation revealed the assessment practices undertaken by the academy were not satisfactory.
NZQA on its website has informed students that IANZ is selling its business to EDENZ Colleges 2016 Limited, a private training establishment.
NZQA is now working closely with IANZ, Immigration New Zealand, Public Trust and other organisations to make sure that students continue their studies with minimum disruption.
Although reports suggest that students who fail the test might face deportation, a student at IANZ, on the condition of anonymity, said that students have only been informed that if they fail any paper, they would take the same papers for free at Edenz Colleges. They have also been advised to apply for a visitor visa in case their student visa is expiring.
Talking to Indian Weekender, the student said, “We have not been informed about being deported. We are now taking revision classes to prepare for the exams.”
She adds that the academy should have given students a clearer picture of the situation. “The school could have saved us from what we are going through now. We feel cheated by the people we trusted blindly.”
While students are not aware of the government’s or NZQA’s plans for them, they hope it is not deportation. “Genuine students have also been caught up in this. I hope they (the government and NZQA) think about the students. We have invested so much time and effort to be in this country.”
Sekhar Bandyopadhyay, director of the New Zealand India Research Institute at Victoria University in Wellington says that the closure of the academy is a serious situation with wider and long-term ramifications.
“I think this situation needs a speedy solution that should take into account the interests of the students. If that does not happen, it may get bad publicity in India and that may affect the prospects of the entire New Zealand education industry in the Indian market.”