https://thewire.in/education/thousands-of-indian-students-future-at-stake-as-3-canadian-colleges-shut-down-abruptly
Thousands of Indian Students' Futures at Stake as 3 Canadian Colleges Shut Down Abruptly
The students, most from Punjab, have spent lakhs on fees and travel. No longer 'students', their visa and permission documents are now invalid.
Jalandhar: Around 2,000 international students – most from Punjab, some learning online and some on study visas – are left in the lurch with three private colleges in Canada’s Montreal city suddenly closing.
Canada’s
CBC News has
reported that all three colleges have filed for creditor protection. In the court filing, the colleges blamed the COVID-19 pandemic for some of their financial troubles. A Canadian MP told
The Wire that other legal criteria were also not met by these colleges.
The three colleges first announced long winter vacations from November 30, 2021 to January 10, 2022. Then, just before closing, the authorities asked the students to deposit pending fees within one week. This amount of money ranged from Canadian $ 15,000 to 29,500, which come to between Rs 9 lakh and Rs 17.70 lakh.
While some students managed to pay the hefty fees, many could not.
The three colleges are Collège de comptabilité et de secrétariat du Québec (CCSQ), College de I’Estrie (CDE) and M College.
CCSQ has two campuses at Longueuil and Sherbrooke and offered courses in accounting, secretarial studies, medical, computing and legal studies.
CDE offered six courses in business and administration and information technology. M College’ in LaSalle had four courses in business, health and technology.
Protests
Among the 2,000 affected students, 1,173 were studying in person, in the three private colleges in Montreal. As many as 637 students were pursuing studies through online classes from home in Punjab.
The students are aged between 18 and 22 years. Some are also from Haryana and Gujarat and had been eagerly waiting for on campus learning to begin.
On January 29, 2022, left with no option, students under the banner of ‘Montreal Youth-Student Organization’ (MYSO) held a rally at Gurudwara Guru Nanak Darbar at LaSalle in Montreal demanding justice in their case. They also handed a letter in this regard to the Minister of Education of Canada, the Indian Ambassador to Canada, the Montreal MP and various ministers of the opposition.
At the rally, the students demanded visa refunds for those in India, refund of fees, opportunity to complete studies for students in the three closed colleges, graduation of students with the Certificat d’Acceptation du Québec, a mandatory document for students to study and work in Quebec province, study permits and travel without any hassle to students who have obtained study visas.
They threatened to intensify protests if their demands were not addressed.
Talking to
The Wire from Montreal, Varun Khanna, a former student and now a Permanent Resident of Canada, who led the rally said
, “The hapless students and their parents, who have spent roughly around Rs 16 to 17 lakh on their child’s education in Canada are disturbed. The study visas of 95% students back home in Punjab, who were taking online classes, have been refused by the Canadian government. At the same time, 70% of students in Montreal, who were in their last semester, are now stuck. Lastly, the future of 30% freshers, who joined college last year is also at stake.”
Khanna added that students in India, who were waiting to reach Montreal now cannot travel as the colleges have closed.
‘Students were stuck’
Randeep Sarai, MP from Surrey Centre in British Columbia said that he took up this issue with Anju Dhillon, the MP for Dorval-Lachine-LaSalle, Quebec.
“The Quebec government suspended the licence of these colleges, after it was found that they were English Language Schools and not French language institutions. During investigation it came to light that many colleges had misappropriated funds while others declared bankruptcy and fled. The provincial government took them to court. A judicial review was ordered by the Quebec government and the students were stuck,” the MP said.
Sarai said that in this situation either the students should file a lawsuit collectively and hire a lawyer or file independent claims with the provincial government. “The last option is that the students appear for IELTS exam again, pay the fees and join some new college, which is not a practical idea,” he said.
Surrey Greens Timber MLA Rachna Singh expressed solidarity with the students. “I think the Quebec government should hold an investigation and find out how these three colleges got their license. In Canada, federal government regulations are different while the Provincial government has their own rules. I also want to request the parents to be cautious while sending their children abroad,” she said.
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