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Private Education Department and Education Ministry need to be pro-active to the complaints of foreign students   Media Statement by Fong Po Kuan (Ipoh, Friday):  Today’s media reported that the Consumer Claims Tribunal ordered the Sedaya International College to refund the tuition fees paid by four Chinese nationals for a nursing course that was offered to the students but was not recognized by the authorities.  Only yesterday, Deputy Director General of Education (Private education) Datuk Hassan said that only 100 private institutions of higher learning would get licenses to recruit foreign students and set the target to have 50,000 foreign students by 2005, which would bring the country RM1.5bil in income.   I would like to remind Hassan that the target would not be achievable if his Department and the Education Ministry are not proactive to complaints lodged by foreign students against irresponsible colleges.   One good example is the present case involving four Chinese students from Sedaya International College. They have written to the Education Ministry seeking for help in this case but their plight had fallen on deaf ears. I believe the students resorted to legal action as it was their last resort.   If the Education Ministry had acted on their complaint, this piece of news report on the four Chinese nationals could have been avoided.    Regardless of the outcome of any action filed in the tribunal or courts by the foreign students, it will not be good news for the country, especially if we are aiming to be a center of excellence in education.   There is also a need for the Department to look into the unprofessional manner of some colleges in handling complaints of foreign students. For instance, I have received complaints from Chinese nationals who were not satisfied with the courses offered to them by the college. When they informed the College that they would like to transfer to another college, the college would apply to the Immigration Department to have their student passes cancelled.  As a result, there are many foreign students who dare not complain or speak up due to the fear. The Private Education Department and Education Ministry should therefore be sensitive to the plight of these foreign students. (13/6/2003) *  Fong Po Kuan,  Member of Parliament for Batu Gajah and Assistant Publicity Secretary