The facts
Some international students in Australia, received the news that they will be penalized a huge money in fees in case there is a delay in submitting assignments. A Thai national studying in a College of Melbourne received the information regarding the penalty.
She signed a form acknowledging the fact of a $300 fee for late assignments. It is a sure sign of not caring for the students, or of not treating them well. Such penalties are often proving to be prohibitive, for the global students. Many of them do a job to get support, and also balance a challenging study work load. Many times international students need extensions for completing assignments, as they do tough outside work for meager wages.
The situation
The schools, where they study, are linked to the visa, and in cases of quitting, the students lose their visas. When the visa is at stake, it is as good as a ransom. As per the national regulator of vocational education and training sector, the penalty falls within the set guidelines.
The Australian Skills Quality Authority mentions that registered providers of training need to give foreign students, sufficient information regarding paying any fees, before beginning any enrollment or assessment.
The agreement (written) between students and a training provider, must also include information in plain English, regarding paying any non-tuition fees, by the students. Furthermore, the authority says that charging penalty fees for late assignments is unusual.
An uncommon practice
The experience of A.S.Q.A. says that charging fees for late submission of assignments is uncommon practice among registered training organizations. The fee is often charged in case of re-assessment. The authority have stated, that if the students, believe that a training provider is breaching any obligations, and not providing the necessary fee information, they can send a complaint to ASQA.
Knowing such details will help the students to become aware of their rights and also help them to face a challenging situation.