More than 200 foreign students at a Limerick language school say they have been left in the dark as to whether they can finish their English courses or transfer to other schools – something most would need to do in order to remain in Ireland.
Student Campus on Patrick Street in the city has been closed in recent weeks. An online meeting of students this week heard from a staff member who said that 300 more students had already paid fees to the school but had yet to arrive in Ireland to start their course. More than 30 full- and part-time staff are also owed two months’ wages, up to €5,000 in some cases, and are unsure if their jobs are still available.
Luiz Cesar Morais, a 28-year-old from Brazil, arrived in Ireland earlier this month having paid Student Campus €1,650 in April and was supposed to start attending classes last Monday. Instead he found the building closed, ostensibly for maintenance work, but with both staff members and other students saying they believed it would not reopen.
“Before paying all the fees I checked the school on ILEP (the Department of Justice administered Interim List of Eligible Programmes), on Google reviews and with other students,” he said. “Everything was fine.”
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Courses have to be on the ILEP to be sold to students outside the European Economic Area and prospective students take the inclusion of a course as an official endorsement. As of Wednesday, Student Campus still had 19 courses on the list.
After arriving in Ireland, the person at the school who sold Morais the course and had told him it would not open on Monday due to plumbing and electrical problems, later said it would remain closed this week and that there were rumours it had gone out of business.
“I contacted the school but got an automatic response saying that the administration was doing their best to find a solution.”
The worst-case scenario in such situations is supposed to be mandatory learner insurance – the premium for which is included in the fees – kicking in and providing the funds required for the student to switch to a course at another school. However, Morais said he contacted the insurer, Academy Plus, who told him the documents required to take cover out on his behalf had not been received. Others say they have been told the same thing.
“I’d just like to be informed about the situation,” Morais said. “I don’t have my visa so I can’t even apply for a job while I am waiting for this all to be sorted out. The 90 days I am allowed to stay legally in Ireland is going and my money will run out if everything is not sorted out quickly.”
Massilia Ait Ali Slimane, originally from Algeria, has been teaching at Student Campus for two years. Like other staff and students she has spoken with, she has been given no clear information on the school’s future.
“Management have been completely unresponsive,” she said. “I have sent about five emails. There were some general messages sent by the owners just saying ‘we’re sorry for the inconvenience’, which is a bit of a joke really. People want to know what’s going on but we are just being ghosted.”
Correspondence from recent weeks seen by The Irish Times includes acknowledgments by managers at the school that wages are owed, but with assurances given that everything due would be paid. However, the correspondence also said the school’s finances were dependent on “sales and cash flow”, suggesting it was still seeking to secure fees from new students overseas.
In another email, it is stated that the owners are engaging with a number of potential investors and that while some have declined to get involved, others are still considering the issue.
Last Thursday, one of the directors, Eshanee Eva, wrote: “Management is actively working with professional advisers to determine the most appropriate course of action and to ensure that all obligations to staff and students are properly considered.
“We are committed to providing a further update as soon as we are in a position to do so. In the meantime, if you require a support letter, employment confirmation, reference, or any other assistance from the school, please let us know.”
Both students and staff have struggled to get further detail in the days since. While there has been no official announcement, there is a general belief the college will not reopen. Efforts by The Irish Times to contact the owners by phone and email were unsuccessful.
“Some of the students are worried about visas, others about exams or insurance, because it’s not clear that’s in place for them,” said Orla Lehane, executive director of the Irish Council for International Students, which has been working to support those affected.
“There will be uncertainty too for students who were still only planning to come here. It was supposed to be a temporary closure, but if it’s not then that leaves a lot of students in a very difficult situation.”
