Граждане! Переводить на русский не буду, но бухгалтерам посвещается.
[FONT=Arial,Arial]In this case the duration of the course was described as one year (minimum) and the student was not made aware of course prerequisites prior to her arrival in New Zealand.
P was a mature student who enrolled in a Diploma in Professional Accountancy at a polytechnic.
P had qualified as an accountant in Russia and had substantial experience practising as an accountant in Russia. Her Russian qualifications were assessed by the polytechnic as being equivalent to a Bachelor of Commerce degree.
While in Russia the student consulted an education agent representing the polytechnic based in New Zealand. The agent suggested the student enrol in a Diploma in Professional Accountancy course with a view to becoming a Chartered Accountant. The polytechnic's website and domestic prospectus described this course as a one-year course. The international prospectus described the duration of the course as "one year minimum".
P received a provisional offer of place which included a requirement that she take an advanced English language course prior to commencing her study in the Diploma in Professional Accountancy programme. No further prerequisites were mentioned in the offer.
P stated that she believed that the course in which she was enrolling was a one-year course. She was not advised that there were any prerequisite courses for the programme in question.
Following her arrival in New Zealand, and after completing the advanced English language programme, P sought to enrol. She submitted her enrolment form listing the subjects she wished to study.
She then received a letter from the course co-ordinator outlining a programme of study over three semesters. The programme outlined included a number of prerequisite courses. P was shocked to discover that the proposed programme involved three semesters of study and not two. As a result, she approached the course co-ordinator who ultimately agreed to waive the prerequisite courses. A programme of study structured over two semesters was arranged for her.
Within the first two weeks of her course P reported difficulty with her programme of study, saying that she could not take four papers. A suggestion was made that she withdraw from the Law of Business Obligations and obtain a refund in respect of that paper. However, when she was advised that as an international student she was not entitled to a refund, she decided to continue with all four papers.
While P did not have any difficulty with two of the papers she was studying, she came to the conclusion that she did not have sufficient background knowledge to study the Law of Business Obligations and Professional Studies which were heavily language-based subjects.
As a result of her discussions with the director of the programme, P decided to withdraw from the courses in which she was enrolled in the first semester rather than risk failing the exams. She decided to enrol in a lower level course which she believed would give her the necessary background in the second semester.
She sought a refund of fees from the provider in respect of the first semester. Her request was declined. She then complained to the Authority.
The Polytechnic stated it was only after P's arrival in New Zealand that she made them aware that her objective was to become a Chartered Accountant. This objective was relevant to the subjects she chose and therefore any prerequisites.
The Authority noted its concern that the Polytechnic had not ascertained from the outset that it was P's intention to become a Chartered Accountant. If this would affect the papers she must take and therefore possibly the prerequisites and the length of the course, then it was clearly a matter which the Polytechnic needed to ascertain at an early stage. The enrolment form did not contain any questions relating to the student’s career intentions. It was difficult to see how the Polytechnic could make the assessment required in section 7.1 of the Code without this information.
In any event the Authority was satisfied in this case that the Polytechnic's agent was aware of the student’s aim of becoming a Chartered Accountant.
The Authority noted that there was nothing on the polytechnic's website which suggested that the length of the programme might differ for an international student.
The Authority accepted that the student had received the prospectus for international students prior to enrolment (this was disputed by the student). While the international prospectus described the duration of the course as “one year (minimum)” there was no indication as to why the word "minimum" had been added to the one-year timeframe nor any explanation as to what factors might alter the length of the course. There was no reference in the prospectus to the fact that there were a number of prerequisite courses for some of the Diploma in Professional Accountancy courses. Nor did it suggest that prior knowledge in any particular area, particularly about the New Zealand business environment would be desirable. There was no suggestion that an international student who had not studied in New Zealand previously might be required to structure their course over three semesters instead of two.
Furthermore P had seen the course described as a one year course in a letter from her agent to the New Zealand Immigration Service. All of these factors led the Authority to conclude that it was not surprising that P believed that she would be able to complete the course in one year.
The fact that, at the outset, the Polytechnic's staff advised P to structure her course over three semesters suggested that this was in fact the most desirable programme for her.
The Authority concluded that the information given in the international student prospectus relating to the length of the course for an international student was potentially misleading in that it did not alert international students to the likelihood that their course may take longer than a year if they had not completed certain prerequisite courses or had not studied in New Zealand previously.
The Authority found that in describing the length of the Professional Diploma of Accountancy course on its website as one year, and in its international prospectus as one year minimum the Polytechnic had provided information which was potentially misleading in breach of section 5.1 of the Code. In failing to advise the student prior to the conditional offer of place being made to her that there were prerequisite courses for some papers in the Diploma of Professional Accountancy the Polytechnic was in breach of section 13.2 of the Code.
The Authority directed the provider to refund P's fees of $6,700.00 for the first semester and interest.
The provider complied with this request following the Final Report.
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