Intueri Education Group's Australian Conwal & Associates unit has been rejected from provisional entry to the VET student loan scheme transition period, a week after having its application for a hike in funding turned down.
The Auckland-based company had to slash earnings guidance last week after its application for an A$6 million (NZ$6.3m) increase in funding for the Conwal unit was turned down, and it's now been told by Australia's Department of Education and Training that it missed out on provisional entry to the funding scheme's transition period between January 1 and June 30.
A large percentage of students in Intueri's Australian businesses, Online Courses Australia (OCA) and Conwal, are funded through a scheme that helps either pay some or all of a student's fees, known as VET Fee-Help. The Australian government imposed a cap on the scheme this year, holding all providers to their 2015 revenue levels, and closed it to new students after the end of 2016.
Intueri overhauled its Australian businesses after audits by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) found OCA and Conwal weren't compliant with its standards, bringing its programmes under the Conwal umbrella, which it wants to keep as a registered training organisation, and teaching out current VFH students in 2017.
The NZX-listed company's shares have plunged 94 per cent so far this year, and last traded at 4 cents. It listed in May 2014 at $2.35 in what was a boom year for initial public offerings. The company is now valued at just $4m by market capitalisation.
