English-language school reform welcomed

Revised Government plans to protect foreign students and halt the closure of rogue English-language school operators have been welcomed by student and private college groups.

The regulatory proposals by Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald would require advance fee payments to be ringfenced in special accounts, and greater transparency around the ownership and facilities of colleges.

Since April 2014, 17 colleges have shut and left hundreds of students with the prospect of no return of fees or advance payments, many who had not yet secured visas to study in Ireland when the colleges closed.