global student
08-13-2008, 12:10 AM
:angry::shocked:THEY came to Singapore lastNovember with high hopes ofgetting a food and beveragediploma, then working in thehospitality industry.But eight monthslater,
with their student passescancelled after being caught
working illegally at a hotel, SriLanka national Sampath andNepali Bikram could get sent home empty-handed — all
because of rogue agents here
and back home.
Both are here on a Special
Pass issued by the Immigration
and Checkpoints Authority
that requires renewal every
week. They have also sought
the Consumers Association
of Singapore’s (Case) help to
get $4,400 in course fees back
from their institution, Columbia
Business School — not to
be confused with the prestigious
New York school of the
same name — but have nots something an increasing number
of students from Sri Lanka, India and Nepal face,
said a local home stay agent who has come
across more than 60 such cases in the last two
years. The home stay agent arranges for accommodation
for students and declined to be named
for fear of offending the school.
Reports bear his encounters out. Last month,
Today reported how student agent Benedict Yeo
Tian Ming (who recruited students for Columbia)
was fined $87,000 for abetting the illegal employment
of 42 foreign students. And according
to the Sri Lankan Embassy, in another media
report in April, at least 40 Sri Lankans looking for
work or education had been cheated this year.
Meeting up with Today recently, Sampath,
25, and Bikram, 21 (who did not want to reveal
their full names for fear of retribution when they
return home) produced brochures that were
given to them, promising eight hours’ work for
$700 a month while they attended three hours
of classes each day.
For the latter six months of their year-long
diploma course, they would receive $1,000 each
month for “full time job training”.
After arriving in Singapore, both students
were told to study English for two months. They
also claimed, they were also told to go to a student
recruitment agency to look for Benedict
Yeo, and to an employment agency called APIM
to fill up job forms.
Both men began food and beverage classes
at Columbia soon after — but lessons were held
only twice a week, with 60 students pursuing
different diplomas all in the same classroom,
said Sampath. Even so, they had to go to school
daily to have their attendance marked.
MOM investigating possible breaches
In March, APIM found jobs for Sampath, Bikram and
four students from Vietnam and Nepal at a hotel
on Scotts Road. They worked as kitchen cleaners
until May 23, when they were nabbed by Ministry
of Manpower (MOM) officials. The next day, they
said, Columbia cancelled their student passes.
When contacted, MOM said it is investigating
four parties for possible breaches of the
Employment of Foreign Manpower Act — the
school, the agency that arranged the students’
attachment with a cleaning company, the cleaning
company, and the students.
“Foreign students undergoing any form of
industrial attachment must apply for a relevant
training pass. They are not allowed to work here
without a valid work pass. This responsibility is
clearly made known to foreign students when
they submit their student pass applications,”
said a ministry spokesperson.
Today’s attempts to contact the principal of
Columbia by phone and email did not receive
a response.
Further checks revealed other questionable
claims in the brochures. In one, Columbia
claimed it awarded City and Guilds Certificates
in Food and Beverage Operations — but a check
with City and Guilds, a United Kingdom-based
vocational education provider, showed that Columbia
is not one of its approved centres.
The students, meanwhile, are awaiting their
fate. “I don’t know what will happen now. My
parents in Nepal don’t know what to do either,”
said Bikram, who paid $8,000 in course and
agent fees in total.
Sampath, who wants a refund of his $4,400
in order to enrol in another school, said: “The
same agent back in Sri Lanka who told us these
lies is still bringing more students here.”
A check with Case revealed that there have
been four complaints this year against Columbia,
and 657 complaints regarding the education sector
so far this year. CaseTrust-accredited schools,
of which Columbia is one, face warning, suspensions
and/or expulsion from the scheme if they
are found to have breached its code of practice,
said executive director Seah Seng Choon.
student troubles
Caught in web of deceit
with their student passescancelled after being caught
working illegally at a hotel, SriLanka national Sampath andNepali Bikram could get sent home empty-handed — all
because of rogue agents here
and back home.
Both are here on a Special
Pass issued by the Immigration
and Checkpoints Authority
that requires renewal every
week. They have also sought
the Consumers Association
of Singapore’s (Case) help to
get $4,400 in course fees back
from their institution, Columbia
Business School — not to
be confused with the prestigious
New York school of the
same name — but have nots something an increasing number
of students from Sri Lanka, India and Nepal face,
said a local home stay agent who has come
across more than 60 such cases in the last two
years. The home stay agent arranges for accommodation
for students and declined to be named
for fear of offending the school.
Reports bear his encounters out. Last month,
Today reported how student agent Benedict Yeo
Tian Ming (who recruited students for Columbia)
was fined $87,000 for abetting the illegal employment
of 42 foreign students. And according
to the Sri Lankan Embassy, in another media
report in April, at least 40 Sri Lankans looking for
work or education had been cheated this year.
Meeting up with Today recently, Sampath,
25, and Bikram, 21 (who did not want to reveal
their full names for fear of retribution when they
return home) produced brochures that were
given to them, promising eight hours’ work for
$700 a month while they attended three hours
of classes each day.
For the latter six months of their year-long
diploma course, they would receive $1,000 each
month for “full time job training”.
After arriving in Singapore, both students
were told to study English for two months. They
also claimed, they were also told to go to a student
recruitment agency to look for Benedict
Yeo, and to an employment agency called APIM
to fill up job forms.
Both men began food and beverage classes
at Columbia soon after — but lessons were held
only twice a week, with 60 students pursuing
different diplomas all in the same classroom,
said Sampath. Even so, they had to go to school
daily to have their attendance marked.
MOM investigating possible breaches
In March, APIM found jobs for Sampath, Bikram and
four students from Vietnam and Nepal at a hotel
on Scotts Road. They worked as kitchen cleaners
until May 23, when they were nabbed by Ministry
of Manpower (MOM) officials. The next day, they
said, Columbia cancelled their student passes.
When contacted, MOM said it is investigating
four parties for possible breaches of the
Employment of Foreign Manpower Act — the
school, the agency that arranged the students’
attachment with a cleaning company, the cleaning
company, and the students.
“Foreign students undergoing any form of
industrial attachment must apply for a relevant
training pass. They are not allowed to work here
without a valid work pass. This responsibility is
clearly made known to foreign students when
they submit their student pass applications,”
said a ministry spokesperson.
Today’s attempts to contact the principal of
Columbia by phone and email did not receive
a response.
Further checks revealed other questionable
claims in the brochures. In one, Columbia
claimed it awarded City and Guilds Certificates
in Food and Beverage Operations — but a check
with City and Guilds, a United Kingdom-based
vocational education provider, showed that Columbia
is not one of its approved centres.
The students, meanwhile, are awaiting their
fate. “I don’t know what will happen now. My
parents in Nepal don’t know what to do either,”
said Bikram, who paid $8,000 in course and
agent fees in total.
Sampath, who wants a refund of his $4,400
in order to enrol in another school, said: “The
same agent back in Sri Lanka who told us these
lies is still bringing more students here.”
A check with Case revealed that there have
been four complaints this year against Columbia,
and 657 complaints regarding the education sector
so far this year. CaseTrust-accredited schools,
of which Columbia is one, face warning, suspensions
and/or expulsion from the scheme if they
are found to have breached its code of practice,
said executive director Seah Seng Choon.
student troubles
Caught in web of deceit