Foreign education scam; government to check number of legal agencies in state

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Labour Minister has ordered officials to check the number of legal agencies after many complaints were received about illegal agencies duping students who go abroad for studies. It is also planned to give these agencies license from the labour department. This move is to protect the students from such illegal agencies and to provide the best education and protection.

An unofficial data shows that in the state there are about three thousand foreign studies recruiting agency. Two thousand of these agencies are based in Kochi. Half of them do not have any permission to run the business. These agencies only have GST registration. Even this is not done by many. The central and state governments do not have laws to curb this menace. If someone is duped by these agencies only a cheating case can be taken against them.

Some agencies use social media to advertise unrecognized courses and recruit students. They use the ignorance of the parents and the children about these things. The recruitment is to countries like China, Russia, and Malaysia for MBBS or other professional courses. These courses do not have any recognition or quality and the parents realize that they have paid too much.