Foreign students stranded after falling for Lence Academy promise

A group of Nepalese students, more than 80, are now stranded after being lured by a local college that promised them jobs on cruise ships.

These students have spent thousands of ringgit to enrol in Lence Academy, a hospitality and beauty school that offers certificate in cruise operation management. The institution has a sister company called Greencity International College or previously known as Orange International College. Both institutions are located in the same building along Jalan Gereja in Kuala Lumpur, and their programmes are not listed in the Malaysian Qualifications Agency site.

According to a report from The Star, Greencity's certificate course in cruise management is still in the process of getting MQA provisional accreditation status. This status means that the course has yet to be evaluated by the strength of its curriculum and the preparedness of its delivery support system.

MQA accreditation is only given when the institution has produced its first batch of graduates, and that the programme is in line with standards and criteria as well as in compliance with the Malaysian Qualifications Framework (MQF).

At the moment these students are working in small restaurants and pubs as general workers. Living in fear that they might get arrested, these students do not have their passports, which were supposedly sent to the Immigration Department for visa extensions.

Reports against these institutions are not new. Last year, Deputy Education Minister P. Kamalanathan was quoted saying that the claims were being investigated which until now has no update.