In developing the reforms of the international education sector, the two Departments had regard to a range of issues including protecting the consumer and education interests of genuine international students, the labour market implications, the integrity of the immigration regime as well as impacts on the sector, particularly high quality Irish education providers.
On the establishment of the Taskforce on Students Affected by the Closure of Private Colleges, it was indicated that my Department and the Department of Justice and Equality were working on producing a strong quality framework for the international education sector to ensure that only genuine international students study in Ireland, to protect the learners that choose to study here and to ensure our international reputation was not undermined.
In this context, the Report of the Task Force noted along with the introduction of a new International Education Mark and Code of Practice, that strengthened regulations could lead to further college closures which would need to be managed in the short term. In the event of any further college closures in the coming period, it was noted in the Report that arrangements already in place for reasonable accommodation for students displaced by the closures which have already occurred, are designed to have some scalability to accommodate such an eventuality.
The impact of possible college closures, if negative, must be measured against the damage done to Ireland's reputation and the integrity of our immigration system of maintaining the status quo. The reform, along with the introduction of a new International Education Mark and Code of Practice, are ulimately to the benefit of the sector, with particular regard to the quality of offering and protection for learners.
