LookAtVietnam – Four private schools in Melbourne and Sydney in Australia were forced to shut down on November 6.

A student is standing outside MIHS (Photo: Reuters)

The four schools are Meridian International School, International Design School, International College of Creative Arts and ESMOD Australia

Global Campus Management/Meridian Group, the owner of the four schools filed for bankruptcy on November 5.

While students are now looking for new schools- . Saigon’s Tiep Thi newspaper quoted foreign sources as saying the Government of Australia is auditing 41 other schools which are also thought to be facing financial difficulties.

On November 9, representative from the Australian Ministry of Education met students from the four private schools in Melbourne. The ministry promised to settle all issues in order to avoid interrupting student learning

Talking with Saigon Tiep Thi reporter by phone on November 12, Nguyen Anh Tuan, a Minister of the Vietnamese Embassy in Australia, said that he has asked to meet representative from the Australian Ministry of Education to discuss assistance to Vietnamese students. Tuan said the Government of Australia promised to settle problems as soon as possible, but has not announced detailed solutions.

One student from Hai Phong City in Vietnam, a final year pupil of Medirian International Hotel School (MIHS), said 2,000 students attended the meeting with representatives from the Australian ministry of education on November 9.

After the meeting, students have been continuing to wait for the Australian Government solutions. The Government will either help find other schools for students to continue their study, or payback tuition as stipulated by the Australian laws.

Some students, who do not want to waste time waiting for Government solutions have contacted study consultancy centres in Australia to find other schools.

However, this means they may not be able to get previous tuition fees refunded.

Meanwhile other students are still waiting for decisions from the Australian Government.

Though the Government of Australia has committed to help find other schools, Vietnamese students may still face difficulties as some schools may not accept more students.

Even if students are accepted to study at other schools, they may still miss many lessons. In the worst case scenario - students would have to wait until the next school year.

VietNamNet/SGTT