Hotel School Closes

[OddBod]

I feel really bad for the students who through no fault of there own are now stuck high and dry and apparently are going to be left up there.

Most of them i have met through one of my businesses seem to be well spoken, mild mannered hard working individuals and as its already been stated that the majority have had to borrow money or mortage property to attend the school have a hell of a future to go back home to without the hoped for qualifications that they came for.

 

As for McDonalds i am sure they will be fine once people learn how to ask for burger and fries in Polish

 

Burger a hranolky prosim (not so difficult really)

[Albert Tatlock]

Memo to all members of Tynwald:

 

In this context;

 

Do not give any more mentions to TT Festival problems.

Do not give any more mentions to retail trade problems in finding 'suitable' replacements.

Do not try to shuffle off responsibility onto the students themselves.

 

Do sort the problem out - if only to pretend that you have a humanitarian conscience.

Do get off your lazy, fat, overweight arses and help these students!

Do something to help preserve the fragile reputation of our island.

 

Lets not go overboard. Any company can go bust. The IOM Government is not responsible for everything that happens on this Island. It has no duty to help these people out therefore it should stop asking for TT favours from them and just help them to re-locate my giving them internet access etc and other support services IF they can't get full time jobs. However my guess would be most will find fulltime employment IF the Island is as desprite for their services as it claims.

 

If employers are so concerned by this closure they should stop publicly voicing their dismay and get their chequebooks out and employ these people. But that would mean paying them properly so its easier and cheaper to get the government to do something - like always.

Absolute rubbish.

 

These people are not a bunch of freeloaders...they have legitimately: applied for visas, paid their fees, and registered for what they considered to be a decent college in what is supposed to be one of the most reliable and well regulated systems in the world. Whilst studying. many of them and their predecessors have also worked on the island for long established companies and payed their tax and NI into the system. 20 years of, say, 100 students a year working for two years, is the same as 4000 people working for one year (plus 25 people employed brings the total to around the equivalent of 4500 people working here for one year). That's a lot of tax and a lot of NI that they will have paid into the system - and that's just through employment.

 

Now many of them now have to find their way home at short notice (and remember - short notice with airlines usually means paying top-prices). Are we are effectively saying they have no human rights to stay to take IMS to task over this (remember also that Mannin=Assets). Are we saying the government has no culpability considering this school was accredited by the BAC? Just imagine how you would feel if you had bought a house abroad, the mortgage company had gone bust and you found yourself being chucked out of the country with no support from the authorities - even though you had dealt with what you thought was effectively a government-accredited firm.

 

They have effectively been ripped-off - they may as well have been scammed or become victims of a potential fraud which we have allowed to happen under our noses - whilst this college is supposed to have been accredited by the BAC:

 

(According to the IHMES website "IHMES has been established for over 20 years and is British Accreditation Council accredited.")

 

According to the BAC website: In awarding accreditation BAC has four main purposes:

• to support and advise independent institutions of further or higher education in the maintenance and enhancement of their quality of provision
  
• to provide independent guidance to students seeking to undertake further or higher education in an institution outside the state sector
  
• to provide assurance of the good standing of an institution to government departments and other interested bodies
  
• to enable an institution to state publicly that it has voluntarily accepted independent inspection and has satisfied BAC that all relevant aspects of its operation are maintained at a satisfactory level.
  

 

I would like to know for a start, for such a prominent school (most of whose pupils have to go through the government immigration system) - who in government either allowed the BAC or the school to get away with these claims? As far as I am concerned, these BAC related statements associate and link the credibility and reliability of the school with government. ...and if the claims do not - why didn't government do anything about these claims?

[Chloephoria]

Fucking appalling! But i am not surprised to hear that a few people are happy the 'pakis are going home'. Its been long known that the Manx government only cares for its own, but doesn't mind - like said here - people to burger flip or do the 'lower jobs'.

I also heard someone today say that Manx people shouldn't have to work? Hmmm. I feel really sorry for these students, they are expected to go home to nothing, on the streets. How sad it must be to be so let down. Is there a fund or anything for them that anyone knows about?

[Tugger]

The island's government had a real opportunity to respond in a positive, humane way to this crisis. Even if it's not your first concern, you could at least pretend that you had the students' welfare at heart (presumably they've paid up front for this course, and as has been noted some of them come from backgrounds where thousands of pounds in fees is a big chunk of change). They should be helping them to find places on alternative courses - government workers are simply not that busy that they couldn't do something for these people.

 

I appreciate that their immigration status is probably beyond the IOM government's power but Jeez....

[Gladys]

This is a unique situation and one that the IOM Government should respond to positively and supportively.

 

MR said that there a couple of potential buyers in the background. Let's hope they can retrieve the situation.

 

An establishment like this should not be run on a profit basis, but should be a registered charity. That will mean that the people running it will not take a risk (speculate to accumulate) approach to its operation and so may keep it on a steadier keel.

[The Old Git]

I would suggest that most of these people if they want to stay will find jobs. If the hospitality industry is crying out for their support then they should employ them and help them get work permits.

 

I don't think it's purely a question of work permits though. I suspect that immigration wise they're classed as students and that status would no longer apply once they stop being a student. They would likely have to leave the IOM / UK and couldn't simple apply for a job and work permit

[jim]

related times of india article click

[Amadeus]

Saviour emerges for stranded students

 

MUMBAI: There was mixed news on Wednesday for the 200 Indian students stranded in the UK after their college went bankrupt and shut down. The hospitality students, 76 of whom are from Mumbai, have been declared 'failed' in their worksheet distributed to them on Monday.

 

But the good news is that a UK college, funded by Indian hoteliers, has offered to admit them for free. The students from IHMES International Hotel School in Isle of Man have been asked by the UK immigration office to leave the country in 28 days.

[Lonan3]

Saviour emerges for stranded students

 

MUMBAI: There was mixed news on Wednesday for the 200 Indian students stranded in the UK after their college went bankrupt and shut down. The hospitality students, 76 of whom are from Mumbai, have been declared 'failed' in their worksheet distributed to them on Monday.

 

But the good news is that a UK college, funded by Indian hoteliers, has offered to admit them for free. The students from IHMES International Hotel School in Isle of Man have been asked by the UK immigration office to leave the country in 28 days.

It does help, but I believe they're only able to take about 60 of the students?

[bluemonday]

This amazes me, the poor sods were only trying to learn and improve themselves. The hotel school people would have become an assett here. As for them being kicked out of the UK, what about the continual flow off the ferry of Eastern Europeans - presumably all ok because "they're in the EU". An interesting article in the Daily Mail aka Wail about immigration. "Figures given for the estimated intake from Eastern Europe are unbelievably high."

As regards here, the info at http://www.gov.im/iomfinance/relocation/la...immigration.xml

States:-

"Application for work permits is made to the Department of Trade and Industry’s Employment Division. Broadly speaking permits are issued where there are no suitable local workers available for the job concerned and where there is no reason to doubt the good character of the person for whom the application is made. Except in the case of self-employment, permits are issued for specific jobs with specific employers and are normally limited in duration but may be renewed."

No suitable local workers? What does that mean? Manxborn and resident locals not suitable for shop/supermarket etc jobs? Good character? Do they do any checks at all?

Looking to the future, if your kids leave school/college/uni as Accountants, IT Specialists, Business Administrators etc then they should be able to get a job locally and easily.

On the other hand, if they don't end up with that sort of level of qualifications then what are the alternatives? Will they be on the dole as the jobs have been taken by work permit holders courtesy of the ever expanding EU?

[alinning]

So, first you find out that the well respected 'International Hotel School' you have (probably) paid a decent wedge of cash to attend has gone tits up and you're going to have nowhere to stay (let alone learn).

 

Then you get a visit from immigration telling you that unless you get a certain type of training job within the next 28 days, you'll be deported from the Island and subsequently the UK.

 

What a nice couple of days.

 

As a side issue, many of these peeps hold a variety of jobs within the retail / service sector (McDonalds, Spar, Co-op etc) which will no doubt give the employers a nice headache just before the busiest time of the year.

 

 

MR Story Link

 

 

Having read the comments on this Forum site it is clear that you have no idea what you are talking about. The school was regulated and since March 2006 this school has been run with integrity but what you should all be asking is why did this happen with a new owner within 1 year? Maybe people should start thinking about the previous owners? Comments regarding the integrity of the school is an insult to the staff who were qualified teachers and respected individuals within the industry and they are out of a job now!!!! But as usual nobody thinks of them.

 

The students must show funds of over £12,000 before they can get their visas and the additional money is to be there in case they need it - even although this sad situation is not of their doing - they wouldnt have got their visa if sending them to the IOM would leave the family destitue.

[manxman8180]

So why quote my post DH?

 

Most of the comments have been very supportive of those who have lost the most in this situation.

 

If you're going to quote and lambast it for being a crock of shit, then quote the bits to which you refer.

 

Ya freakin muppet.

[manxman8180]

No suitable local workers? What does that mean? Manxborn and resident locals not suitable for shop/supermarket etc jobs?

It means they produce the applications of all those who applied for the job. If there were manx workers, they have to provide a detailed explanation as to why they were not succesful.

 

However, IIRC, this only relates to work permits issued under the Control of Employment Act (CEA). Most (if not all)of the IHMES students would have been granted permits under the Overseas Labour Scheme (OLS), which entitles them to work for a maximum of 20hrs per week. The employer does not then have to apply for a permit (again IIRC) as the holder is already entitled to work.

 

Looking to the future, if your kids leave school/college/uni as Accountants, IT Specialists, Business Administrators etc then they should be able to get a job locally and easily.

On the other hand, if they don't end up with that sort of level of qualifications then what are the alternatives? Will they be on the dole as the jobs have been taken by work permit holders courtesy of the ever expanding EU?

What? The Island has very low levels of unemployment at present (and for the past 10 years) hovering at around 1.4%. If you are willing to work, there are jobs available. Every economy needs a range of skills and abilities. Not everyone has to be at the top of the acedemic tree.

 

And if the worst came to the worst, the work permits would not be renewed, and the eligibilty criteria tightened even more. Hey presto, everyone happy.