NZQA shuts private training school over fee failings

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A private training school has been shut for repeatedly failing to put students' fees into a trust account.

New Zealand Institute of Choice, a school with up to 200 international students which operated on Queen St in Auckland, was closed last week by the NZ Qualifications Authority.

The authority's deputy chief executive for quality assurance, Tim Fowler said yesterday that the school had been warned about a fees shortfall of $162,000 in August and $61,580 in September.

He said that in February reviewers found four more breaches of the student fee protection policy - failing to put student fees in trust in time, withdrawing money too early, excluding agent fees from calculations and withdrawing fees over an extended period.

About 100 students would need to find new schools with NZQA help.

Owner Ben Golchin said the NZQA had no reason to close his school and was using it as "a sacrifice" as a warning to other private training schools.

He said the school's accounts were short by less than $40,000. He had corrected the mistake within 24 hours but the NZQA deregistered him.

Mr Golchin said he would probably lose his house as a result of the decision. He would like to fight the closure but could not afford a lawyer.

Mr Fowler said the NZQA believed the school had clearly and deliberately breached clear legal requirements.