'Recruitment of international students affects the reputation of higher education'
Wittenborg University, a private university of applied sciences that focuses on international students, is raising the alarm to the Education Inspectorate about the recruitment practices of providers of international transition years.
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Engaging commercial companies such as Oncampus, Study Group and Navitas in the recruitment and selection of international students jeopardizes the quality of the intake. The British and Australian recruitment agencies are quietly settling on Dutch campuses, the Onderwijsblad recently reported in the article 'The hunt for the international student'. The agencies recruit foreign students who do not meet the admission requirements and therefore first follow a very expensive transition year that is offered by the agency itself. To be eligible for a residence permit, the transition students are registered with the university partner. Among them are students with a diploma that is not of VWO level. The transition year providers are currently recruiting students for five universities and three universities of applied sciences.
Extreme case
Wittenborg University - a small, private business school that offers international bachelor's and master's programs at higher vocational education level - approached a Pakistani student three years ago who had done a bridging year at Study Group. "We had his diploma checked by internationalization organization Nuffic and it turned out that his previous education was at vmbo-t level," says Wittenborg director Peter Birdsall. An extreme case, but Wittenborg has indications that the providers of international bridging programs are messing around a lot more. "They recruit Chinese, Russian or Indonesian students for Dutch universities, while the secondary school diploma in those countries is at HAVO level. That can affect the reputation of Dutch higher education," says Birdsall.
They recruit Chinese or Russian students for Dutch universities, while the secondary school diploma in those countries is at HAVO level
Things have gone wrong before with the recruitment of international students through commercial agents. Around the turn of the century, planeloads of Asian students arrived in the Netherlands who hardly spoke any English. The national code of conduct, which was introduced in 2006 to prevent this type of abuse from happening again, states that an institution that outsources the recruitment and selection of international students must ensure that the hired agents comply with all rules of conduct. And according to Birdsall that is impossible if you work with Oncampus, Study Group or Navitas. "These companies work with local agents who often use sub-agents. The agent who recruits the student has no contact at all with the university the student wants to go to."
Action Calendar
Birdsall has already expressed concerns to the Ministry of Education, the Code of Conduct Committee and the industry associations last year, but that has not led to action yet. He hopes that the Education Inspectorate will now investigate the admission of international students through transition year providers.
