A loophole in the skilled migration program has turned private colleges into visa factories, a study published in the latest issue of a Monash University journal has found.

The loophole has led to a surge in enrolments for hairdressing and cooking courses - courses on the list of in-demand migrant occupations that give advanced standing to onshore visa applicants.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/some-private-colleg...7/1174761471743.html

Allan,

I have personally been given a feedback by a friend of mine who enrolled for a Masters course in accounting in Australia at a private college. She said she was shocked at the kind of students coming to Australia on student visas, most of them barely knowing how to speak English (which is a basic requirement for those indenting to enter the workforce in this field). Besides the teaching was poor in her college and nothing was done about it inspite of informing higher authorities in the college. Of course they know that most students are here not to advance their careers but to eventually gain Australian residency. College Assignments, primarily intended to ascertain your knowlege of the subject are copied from fellow students and sometimes the services of senior students are hired to do the assignment for you at an agreed fee. Can you imagine the quality of students who will eventually gain permanent residency. And of course you are right, most students take up subjects like cooking, hairdressing, accountancy etc. without any inclination at all towards the subject but solely to gain permanent residency.