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Message: <blockquote data-quote="global student" data-source="post: 2629287" data-attributes="member: 119021"><img src="/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/default/angry.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":angry:" title="Angry    :angry:" data-shortname=":angry:" /><img src="/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/default/shocked.gif"  class="smilie" loading="lazy" alt=":shocked:" title="Shocked    :shocked:" data-shortname=":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 </blockquote>

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