18 Sep 2017

NZQA shuts down private institution

8:27 pm on 18 September 2017

A Christchurch business school has lost its registration after repeated interventions by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA).

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Photo: 123rf

The authority said it cancelled the registration of Oasis International Education Limited, which was trading as Retail Business and Management College, because of its educational performance and non-compliance with NZQA rules.

NZQA said the college was the subject of five statutory actions between May last year and the end of July this year including enrolment limits to stop overcrowding and a ban on new enrolments in a diploma course.

The college had 31 foreign students who would transfer to another institution, the authority's deputy chief executive quality assurance, Grant Klinkum, said.

"NZQA will be ensuring students are supported at this time and provided with options to continue their studies.

"Our focus is working to transfer these students to alternative high-quality tertiary education organisations who will provide a full package of learning and support," Dr Klinkum said.

The college was one of at least three to be deregistered this year and more than 20 others had been ordered to halt enrolments or banned from teaching or assessing particular courses in the past 18 months.

The college's website said it had previously been given NZQA's second highest quality rating, meaning the authority was confident in the quality of its education and in its ability to monitor itself.

It was charging $17,250 for enrolments in its level 5 and 6 business diplomas and $18,400 for its retail management diploma.

The Qualifications Authority has been cracking down on problems ranging from plagiarism and poor marking of students' work to overcrowding of teaching spaces.

It has taken statutory actions this year including revoking the accreditation of AWI International Education Group and International College of New Zealand for certain courses, and cancelling the registration of Linguis International Institute and Aotearoa Tertiary Institute.

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