康大留学生抗议寄宿家庭华人黑中介PeterLow

vancouver

此文章发表在康大的一个校刊：The Link
原文请点击：http://thelinknewspaper.ca/article/3227

摘要：
国内想来蒙特利尔留学的童鞋们通过Peter Low申请康考迪亚双录取，过来后，Peter Low联系的包吃包住Homestay条件差，多人挤在一间房，每餐吃不饱，有时还需要忍受房东的歧视。

这些是事实，但相信不是所有的homestay都是如此，所以来蒙特利尔留学的童鞋们需要慎重对待这个问题。

In a nondescript building on Monkland Ave. sometime in July, David decided he’d had enough.

The 18-year-old student’s strange journey began in his home in China when he decided to come to Montreal to study finance at Concordia. A few weeks, a long flight and thousands of dollars later, he ended up in a crowded $900 a month homestay that he shared with 12 other people, where breakfast, lunch and dinner were two slices of bread—sometimes with margarine or a hot dog.

David’s English wasn’t good enough to enroll directly at Concordia. Instead, he went to New Oriental, one of many agencies in China that helps students apply to foreign universities. He paid the company about $15,000.

That agency—which is facing a class-action shareholders’ lawsuit and an investigation from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission related to its accounting practices—put him in touch with Peter Low, Concordia’s recruitment agent for Chinese students.

Concordia’s admissions website explains that, “for an additional fee,” the university can guarantee Chinese high school students a “fast-tracked and simplified application process,” as well as provide homestays and airport pickup and help them to register for ESL classes.

In an email sent to a Concordia student and seen by The Link, Low explained that while a regular online application would take between three and four months, he could guarantee a letter of admission “within a few days.”

Most importantly, Low said, students who apply through this program do not have to prove they can speak enough English to understand their classes.

A student like David, whose first language is not English and who has never studied in English, would ordinarily have to pass a standardized language test like the Test of English as a Foreign Language to apply to Concordia.

Instead, students in this program take an English proficiency test when they arrive at Concordia. Depending on their ability, they are required to take up to eight intensive English classes at Concordia’s Centre for Continuing Education.

These five-week-long, non-credit classes cost $3,750 each. When David first enrolled, the classes cost $3,300, but the university increased the price by $450 after adding half an hour to each class. Tuition for the full eight-course program is $30,000.

Students who complete all their required classes with a grade of 75 per cent or better can then enroll in their program of choice.

Although his services cost $2,200, Low noted in the same email that the university’s usual $90 application fee is waived for students who apply through him.

David sent a total of $15,000 to Concordia by bank transfer. Low’s $2,200 fee was withdrawn from that amount, either by the university or by Low himself.

As far as he knows, David said, “Every student who comes from China pays their fee to Peter Low. Everybody.”

Peter Low is listed as the director of the Concordia China Student Recruitment Partner Program on the university’s website for that program.

“Low is an actual authorized recruitment agent of Concordia University. The nature of his contract, we’re not quite sure of,” explained Walter Tom, coordinator of the Concordia Student Union’s Legal Clinic.

“[The CSU’s Housing and Job Bank] had contacted the university as well, and the university said, ‘Yeah, we know Peter Low.’ And then HoJo asked, ‘Well, do you know what he’s doing?’ And then very quickly it was, ‘We’ll call you back.’”
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An administrator in Concordia’s recruitment department confirmed that Low is a contracted employee of Concordia. He also confirmed that immigration consulting is part of Low’s contract.

“Part of the service they provide is the application process for both the Canadian immigration work as well as the [Quebec Acceptance Certificate],” which all international students must have to study in Quebec.

This work is done through Orchard Consultants Ltd., a company run by Low and registered to a residential address in Burnaby, BC. Calls made on Monday to numbers associated with the company were not answered.

Concordia spokeswoman Chris Mota explained that Peter Low “coordinates the work with the licensed agents in China.” Those agents help students with their applications for study permits and provincial and federal immigration permits.

“We aren’t in a position to know the specifics of licensing requirements in China,” she said, adding that the university did understand that in order to be licensed to work in China, a person must live in and be a citizen of that country.

While he was back in China, David said the agency told him he would have to live in a homestay for at least two months. Before he arrived, Orchard sent him a document describing the pleasant homestay he would be living in.

But when he was dropped off at the homestay on Monkland Ave., it became apparent that none of the information was accurate.

“It was not true. The information about the homestay was different from where I lived,” said David. The document, which David provided to The Link, said that he would live with another Chinese Concordia student.

It also indicated that the company Premier Homestay operated the building, but that Teresa, a Peruvian woman, would be taking care of David. According to the document, Teresa “lives alone but has family in the city,” and “enjoys the exchange with her students/guests.”

In fact, there were two other students, a Brazilian and a Mexican. Both were studying at private language schools, and only stayed for a month. Teresa did not appear to exist at all.

Instead, a housekeeper and four other women (who David believed to be the woman’s mother and grandmother, and her husband’s mother and grandmother) lived on the main floor.

The address was also incorrect, although the address listed on the document is for another building operated or owned by Premier Homestay.

“[At first] the landlord is good for me,” David said. “They care about me. Just for a few days. Then after, they just give me bread for breakfast, and milk. At the beginning, they helped me cook eggs, or gave me juice and milk. Just for a few days.”

A document detailing “Expectations of Students Living in Homestay,” which a Premier Homestay employee gave to David when he arrived in Montreal, explains that “There will be a variety of new foods for you to sample.”

The document includes a long list of foods that might be served, including, among others, cereal, croissants and muffins, as well as pasta, meat and chicken. Premier Homestay’s website notes that students will be given “nutritious meals,” and also includes a similar list of food.
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“In the beginning,” David said, “I could eat what I want. In the second month, other roommates come here, about eight people, in the same house. During this time, we eat many bread. The landlady told me everybody just eats two pieces of bread for breakfast. With some margarine. Yeah, I felt hungry, but she told me: too much money for bread,” he said.

The other food promised also never appeared. “For lunch, just hot dog. With bread.”

When he told the housekeeper that he was hungry, “She told me, ‘You need to buy some snacks,’” David said. The document notes that “Snacks will also be available between meals.”

After paying $900 per month for accommodations that he had been told would include food, David was left with little extra money.

Eventually, 13 people were living in the three-story house. Two students shared a room in the basement. The cook and the four other women lived on the ground floor and David shared the top floor—and a single bathroom—with five other people. He left after two months, and is now living in his own apartment.

Weilin, who is now in his last semester at Concordia, told The Link that he left his homestay after one month, for similar reasons.

蜡笔小刚

蒙特利尔康大中国留学生寄宿风波 投诉不合理收费 来源: RCI 作者: 家园小编

中国留学生投诉中介不合理安排 要求展开调查

游行中国学生前往加拿大国际教育办公室，希望就事件展开调查。

在魁北克蒙特利尔康卡迪亚大学(Concordia University)就读的几名中国留学生近日向媒体以及该校学生会投诉，指康大的“招募中国留学生合作项目”误导他们住在”寄宿家庭“，并存在不合理收费。星期三，他们游行到加拿大国际教育办公室(CBIE)要求就此展开调查。接下来是梁彦的采访、报道。

二十几名康卡迪亚大学的学生，包括了几名受害中国留学生，康卡迪亚学生会以及康大中国留学生联谊会的代表星期三举行了游行，要求对康大的一个“招募中国留学生合作项目”以及“寄宿家庭”项目展开调查。

Lydia的经历

记者首先采访了其中一位受害留学生Lydia (她表示不愿意使用全名)。来自上海的Lydia今年8月28号来到蒙特利尔，就读康卡迪亚大学的商学院，但是，很快发现自己在中介安排下的“寄宿家庭”、甚至自己的学费等都出现了问题。

Lydia介绍的情况主要是，她是从康卡迪亚大学的官方网站上看到这个“中国留学生招募项目”的，所以，她很信任这个项目的负责人Peter Low，觉得他代表了校方。

她说，她原本想租住大学宿舍，但Peter Low告诉她，她在初来的这段时间必须选择“寄宿家庭”，因为她是国际学生。但事实是，只要收到了康卡迪亚大学的录取通知书，就可以申请该大学宿舍。Lydia觉得在这件事情上，她受到了误导。

Lydia在来到蒙特利尔后发现，她居住的“寄宿家庭”环境条件不好，比如，她的房间里没有桌椅，只有一张床。寄宿家庭准备的伙食也不好。而他们一个月交给寄宿家庭的费用是900元。

她说，他们在抵达之处，当地的寄宿家庭项目负责人要求他们缴纳两个月的费用，总共1800块，并且不得退款。

她表示，她曾经向负责寄宿家庭项目的一位叫做雷娜((Renee Greenberg)的女士反映情况，但是，那位女士告诉她，如果你还需要食物，需要自己购买。

Lydia说，在整个过程中，她的学费也出了问题。她在国内的时候缴纳了12，100加元的学费，包括9000元学费，以及医疗保险和注册费用，以及2200元的”项目费“。但是到了康大之后发现，这2200元实际上交给Peter Low，而她的学费反而不够了。她只好又问自己的父母要了1700元填上空缺，这让她有受骗的感觉。

而在这当中引起记者注意的是Lydia介绍的，康卡迪亚大学的官方网站上的”招募中国留学生合作项目“， 负责人是Peter Low。记者按照地址给Peter Low发去了电子邮件，希望进一步了解情况，但目前为止没有收到他的回音。我们会继续与他联络。

康大学生会回应

康卡迪亚大学本科生学生会内部事务发言人纳迪(Nadine)也接受了记者的采访。她首先解释了康卡迪亚大学与Peter Low负责的“招募中国留学生合作项目”。

她说，这个项目的确是康卡迪亚大学属下的项目，然而，学校雇佣了第三方，也就是Peter Low和他的公司来负责这个项目。所以，她的理解是，Peter Low 和康大是合同雇佣关系。另外，这个项目从2007年就开始了。

她说，目前就Peter Low和康大合作的具体细节依然有待进一步调查，比如Peter Low工作的宗旨。尽管康大有关人士表示，遭到投诉的“寄宿家庭”项目与康大无关，但是，在康大的官方网站上面，说明“招募项目”会提供机场接机以及“寄宿家庭”服务。但是，校方是否对这个项目进行质量控制，大家目前尚不清楚。

纳迪说，目前的状况是，我们了解到这当中存在很多的问题，但是，离找到解决方法还有距离。这也是为什么他们向加拿大国际学生办公室反映这个问题，希望这个专门管理加拿大国际留学生事物的机构可以对此进行独立调查。

她说，这项调查应该不仅仅是针对康卡迪亚的，也应该是针对全加拿大所有这类的国际留学生招募项目。

她说，实际上，康大学生会收到投诉“寄宿家庭项目”的问题这已经不是第一次了。她说，康卡迪亚大学学生会最初了解到国际留学生对“寄宿家庭”项目不满是在去年。有三名中国女生曾向学生会反映，他们对于Peter Low 项目安排的住宿家庭不满意，希望学生会帮忙找地方住。但是，三个女生都不愿意把事情公开，可能她们的父母不赞成她们那样做。

所以对学生会来说，对“寄宿家庭”项目的不满已经不是孤立的事件了。他们目前正在推动康卡迪亚学校内部以及加拿大国际教育办公室的共同进行调查，看看如何能避免类似的事件发生。等他们得到更多的信息，也会向康大提出具体的改进措施。

最新进展

就在这篇报道结束的时候，记者看到报道。康大国际留学生“寄宿家庭”项目的负责人雷娜就此在《蒙特利尔公报》上为自己辩护，称她看到星期三学生们游行抗议的行动感到很震惊，并特别指出其中一名学生Gloria的指控不实。她说，她负责这个“寄宿家庭”项目已经有20多年，这些指控令她的声誉受损。

目前，康卡迪亚大学已经就此展开内部调查，本台将进一步跟进相关的消息。

欢迎其他了解情况的朋友告诉我们你们的经历，我们的电子邮件地址是：china@rcinet.ca