Carich founder feels wrath

By ALAN PERROTT

A student at the failed Carich Training Centre has spoken of how she was assured everything would be all right in spite of the company's money troubles.

Thousands of students around the country await news of their future and an initial assessment of the collapse of the country's largest private education institute will be released this morning.

Ira Parkinson, 23, one of the students stranded when the school closed its doors on Wednesday, said founder Caron Taurima must take full responsibility for the closure.

Ms Parkinson, who is three months away from completing a multimedia course, said the students were angry Mrs Taurima was still assuring them on Wednesday that everything would be all right.

"I had already tried to transfer to another school, but they told me everything would be fine and the problems were because everyone was jealous of the school.

"But it's really upsetting, they never gave us the chance to burn copies [on to CD-Roms] of our projects and work."

She said students on her course were asked twice in the past month to donate $20 to buy ink for their new colour copier. "They should have warned us they were in trouble. We don't want to sit at home doing nothing. I want to keep on working so I can get a good job."

Carich Training shut because of a fall in student numbers, the loss of a lucrative contract with Te Wananga and debt of about $5 million.

Mrs Taurima was named Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year just three weeks ago.

Carich's debts grew during a funding dispute with the Tertiary Education Commission which is seeking the return of overpayments totalling $3.2 million.

Government agencies are scrambling to find new placements for the school's domestic students but Patrick Ibbertson from the Association of Private Providers of English Language said they hoped to accommodate the institute's 600 language students from overseas. Carich's Auckland facility was expanded at the end of last year to accommodate an expected influx of international students just as the Chinese student market began to collapse.

One education provider, who did not want to be named, said it would be ironic if the fall in Asian student numbers contributed to the collapse because of Carich director Richard Taurima's past association with New Zealand First.

The party's anti-immigration comments have been partly blamed for the fall in the export education industry.

Caron Taurima blames her company's problems on the TEC and claimed the funding agency owed Carich more than $1 million. She has accused the TEC of obstruction and providing Associate Education Minister Steve Maharey with incorrect information.

Mrs Taurima asked Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia this month to lodge a formal complaint against TEC general manager Ann Clark for breaching the principles of the Treaty of Waitangi by not acting to protect Maori interests.

The Carich failure has been greeted with dismay by the Association of Private Education Providers.

President Sandra McKersey said that while Carich was not a member, its swift decline had negated a lot of work being done by other education providers.

She said members would work with Government agencies to ensure all students could complete their tertiary studies, and would try to repair any lingering damage to the industry.

Waikato's Institute of Technology is looking to help Hamilton's Carich students. Wintec and Carich both run the level three National Certificate in Computing, so the students could transfer to Wintec to finish their studies.

Wintec CEO Mark Flowers has met the TEC and Carich's receivers, KPMG, to see what help is needed.

Insurance agent Contractors Bonding is contacting Carich's international students to inform them of their new school placements.

CBL operations manager Melina Miller said the collapse would be a new blow to New Zealand's international education reputation.

But Carich's woes are not expected to cause the international backlash that followed last month's closure of the Modern Age Institute of Learning because the students' fees are protected by insurance.

Modern Age closed its doors with a debt of $4.4 million and no money to refund student fees. Its directors are being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office.