SINGAPORE: Some six years after a Singapore education company had its branches in Vietnam shut down, another has suffered a similar fate.
According to media reports in Vietnam, Raffles Education Corporation - which is listed on the Singapore Exchange - had its licence revoked last month by authorities in Ho Chi Minh City after it had been found enrolling students for unauthorised courses.
In December last
year, Raffles International Training Centre (RITC) Vietnam - a design
institute run by RafflesEducationCorp - was one of three private
colleges penalised by the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training
for allegedly offering illegal joint training programmes with foreign
colleges.
RITC was accused of cooperating with the Raffles
College of Higher Education in Singapore without the necessary licence.
The three private colleges were reportedly fined 220 million Vietnamese
dong (S$13,100) and ordered to suspend advertising, admission and
training activities leading to the award of diplomas and degrees from
overseas.
Responding to Today's queries, RafflesEducationCorp
confirmed the revocation of its licence. A spokesperson said: "The onset
of regulatory tightening in Vietnam is beyond the group's control."
She
said the group's priority is to "fulfil our obligations to Raffles
students and so, we have accordingly processed the permanent transfer of
more than 400 students from Vietnam to other Raffles Education
Corporation colleges in Singapore, Sydney and Phnom Penh".
The
spokesperson added: "We have offered to bear student airfares and
contribute partially to their living expenses in these cities. Our focus
is on the welfare of our students, first and foremost, and to minimise
any disruption to their continual learning process. Students who have
chosen to discontinue their studies with us have been given refunds for
tuition fees paid."
RafflesEducationCorp has so far refunded a total of S$5.6 million, according to the spokesperson.
The
Thanh Nien Daily also reported that there was an order barring RITC
director-general Edmund Hwong from leaving Vietnam. But the
RafflesEducationCorp spokesperson refuted this.
The
RafflesEducationCorp had previously clarified its position on the
controversy. According to the group, there were no clear regulations in
Vietnam "governing credit transfer processes leading to the award of
diplomas and degrees from overseas".
Following the authorities' decision in December, RITC "fully paid the stipulated violation fine".
Both
its centres in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh also complied with the suspension
order. Subsequently, it appealed against the fine and suspension, as
well as sought dialogue with the authorities. But all discussions
"yielded unworkable options".
In 2006, Today broke the news that
the Singapore International Training Consultancy (SITC) closed its
branches in Vietnam after it had run into financial difficulty.
It
left thousands of students in the lurch and the teachers' salaries were
unpaid. The SITC was funded largely by Singaporean investors but its
operations were headed by a Taiwanese, who had an international arrest
warrant issued against him.
- TODAY