By Jane Ng

SEVERAL agents who were supposed to recruit students for private school Harriet Educational Group have filed reports with the police complaining about the practices of the Tanjong Pagar institution.

These agents said they each gave the school between $20,000 and $50,000 for training and a licence that would allow them to sign up foreign and local students.

However, some saw their services terminated within a year, causing them to lose their investments.

Now, at least nine of these agents, called international student consultants or country managers, have lodged police reports against the school.

When contacted, Harriet chief executive James Chua brushed aside the complaints, saying 'anyone can make a police report'.

'Our training fees are transparent to all. Before they join, they know what they are paying for,' he said.

Based in Tanjong Pagar, the website of Harriet Educational Group says the school offers a range of courses, including work and study programmes and classes in English. It operates from the Bestway Building and has classrooms and a computer laboratory.

The school's agents said they paid almost $7,000 for a series of training sessions and $10,000 for a licence that enabled them to recruit foreign students on behalf of the school. In return, they received a commission for each recruit.

Some agents said they paid another $35,000 for a separate three-year licence that allowed them to get higher commissions.

However, while other private schools use agents to recruit students, they do not charge for training or a licence.
The head of an association for these agents said Harriet had no authority to issue licences.
Many of the school's agents gave up full-time jobs, saying they were drawn by advertisements featuring agents who claimed they 'earned $10,000 easily'.

A group of them, who no longer represent the school, found the going tough and were able to recruit just a handful of students. Others did not manage to recruit any at all.

Mr Eric Ong, 51, a polytechnic lecturer who joined the school in March, was one of those agents. He is still paying off a $25,000 bank loan he took to pay for the training and licence.

He said he made a police report after realising the testimonials from agents contained in the ads were untrue.

'I checked with some of the people who were featured in the advertisements and they told me they were earning less than what was stated,' he added.

In fact, one of the agents featured in the ads made a police report, claiming the earnings were inflated.

Mr Bai Lijun, 36, was less than a year into his contract when it was terminated in June. He said he was not given a reason. He thinks it could be because he failed to hit recruitment targets, which he said the school told him about just months before the termination.

Said Mr Bai: 'I was told in April that I had to earn $15,000 in May and $25,000 monthly from June to August, and I didn't earn those amounts.'

Harriet's Mr Chua said the school would not terminate the services of agents without a reason, suggesting they may have breached the school's recruiting rules.

'They knew about the costs of the programme before they signed up. These people are in for a quick buck but education is not about get-rich-quick schemes.'

The president of the Association of Consultants for International Students, Mr Daniel Chu, said he has heard a few complaints about the school. But he said the association was unable to take action.

He did say, though, that agents did not need a licence to recruit students.

janeng@sph.com.sg

This article was first published in The Straits Times on September 15, 2008.

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