A new network of private colleges in Ireland is calling on the government to abandon plans to introduce an ‘interim list’ of providers who can recruit internationally and bring forward the rollout of its new regulatory framework, the International Education Mark, currently tabled for January 2016.
The latest twist in a regulatory rollercoaster comes after yet another school, A2Z English, closed down in Dublin in January (as explained on its Facebook page).
The Private College Network is led by Dublin-based Academic Bridge and National Employee Development Training Centre Ltd.
The two colleges brought a successful legal challenge last month against a reform that would require institutions to be accredited by qualifying body ACELS in order to appear on the interim list.
The Irish government had announced in September that only ACELS-accredited ELT operators would be able to recruit international students from January, but this decision was overturned in the High Court, because it is not possible to gain ACELS accreditation for new applicants and in the words of Ms Justice Baker, “the brand is now closed”.
“The Network [calls for] the early introduction of the International Education Mark and not a rollout in 2016 as advised this month,” Martin Moloney, a solicitor for Abacus Legal, who represented the two colleges in the legal challenge, said in a statement.
“The continuing delay in the implementation of the mark will be a direct cause of college closures in the coming months with the loss of jobs,” he continued.
The impact of the policy announcement by Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald in September last year was “immediate, serious and negative” and caused “uncertainty amongst the entire community”, Moloney argued.
“Since this time the college community has had to deal with a reduction in cash flow, placing hundreds of jobs in the industry at risk,” he continued. “The ongoing delay is exacerbating the uncertainty and difficulties being faced by colleges.”
Certainly, A2Z School in Dublin blamed “significant delays in the ACELS accreditation process and indefinite delays in the publication of the ILEP [Interim List of Eligible Programmes]” as a reason for its sudden closure.
The PCN is calling on the Minister to maintain the Internationalisation Register of providers currently allowed to recruit non-EU students
The PCN is calling on the Minister to maintain the Internationalisation Register of providers currently allowed to recruit non-EU students and to ensure that “any changes introduced on an interim basis have due regard to the necessary commercial lead times for adjustment by colleges”.
When asked whether the lack of an interim list (ILEP) might cause reputational damage to the sector, Moloney said that it would suffer “far more damage as a result of improperly imposed regulation than as a result of rogue operators”.
“The applicants in the case both support the need for changes and improvements in standards to be applied,” he told The PIE News. “My clients’ case opposed the manner in which the transitional arrangements were being implemented.”
The government is now developing different criteria for an interim list, which it is expected to announce later this month.
“My clients’ case opposed the manner in which the transitional arrangements were being implemented”
In the recent High Court case, the Minister for Justice and Equality, Frances Fitzgerald, indicated she would want colleges on the interim list to be Irish- accredited with an accreditation process that is “more rigorous and hands on” than an overseas accreditation process.
The Private College Network’s members are:
Academic Bridge, Dublin
The Carlyle Institute, Dublin
Cork City College, Cork
International College of Technology, Dublin
Limerick City College, Limerick
NED Training Centre, Dublin
SEDA College Dublin
