AUSSIE LECTURERS ON
STRIKE
Students
fear
impact on SIM GE exams
Report by ZUL
OTHMAN
For more than a
year, lecturers and Australia's Royal Melbourne Institute of
Technology University (RMIT) have been in a dispute over better pay
and working conditions.
But there are now fears that the resulting strike - which was
called on Oct 1 - will impact some of the Melbourne-based
institution's more than 6,000 students enrolled at SIM Global
Education's (SIM GE) campus at Clementi Road.
The New Paper (TNP) learnt yesterday of RMIT's
plans to use staff from its campuses in Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh and
Hanoi to assess Singaporean exam scripts for an examination
scheduled from Monday to Nov 9.
Australia's National Tertiary Education Union
(NTEU) - the professional association covering all employees of
universities - sees this as RMIT's way of working around the
industrial action.
NTEU, which according to its website represents
more than 25,000 members, is staging the industrial action at a
number of Australian universities, including RMIT.
The union's president, Ms Jeannie Rea, told TNP
that an email was sent to the staff of RMIT's Vietnam campuses
offering them to assess the scripts.
Ms Rea argued that because the staff in Vietnam are
not involved in course work for Singaporean students, RMIT is
breaking its agreement with its Singapore provider SIM GE.
Usually, staff from Melbourne would set and mark
the papers for its offshore students.
Added Ms Rea: "There is now great concern by the
staff of RMIT here that if this is done, the quality and integrity
of the university would be compromised."
ROBUST PROCESSES
In an email statement to TNP, RMIT's pro vice-chancellor Ian
Palmer said it "has robust processes in place to ensure quality
wherever it operates".
He added that NTEU has notified RMIT that it has
asked its members to withhold the release of assessment results for
offshore non-graduating students.
Despite this, Professor Palmer concluded: "All
assessment will be done in accordance with the service agreement
RMIT has with SIM. RMIT is working to ensure that potential impact
is minimised."
He did not reveal how many students here could be
affected if the dispute escalates.
RMIT students in Malaysia, China and Vietnam are
also affected.
One Singaporean student at SIM GE, who declined to
be named, is hopeful that the strike in Australia will be resolved
soon.
Said the undergrad, 26: "I know that strikes are
common in Australia, but I do wish this is resolved before our
examinations end."
"I do not want to be in a situation where my
results are disputed. The idea of re-sitting for exam is not
something I look forward to."
When contacted, a spokesman for SIM GE said: "As of
now, SIM has not received any instruction from RMIT University to
send the examination scripts to the RMIT campus in Vietnam."
News, The New Paper, Friday, October 18 2013, Pg 14