Students face deportation after IANZ closes

Students face deportation after IANZ closes

It's make-or-break time for 300 foreign students caught up in the closure of their international school in Auckland.

The students are being made to sit an exam next week that could decide whether they are deported or not.

It comes after Newshub revealed the school had allegedly falsified test results, and a critical New Zealand Qualifications Authority report.

The exam next week at International Academy of New Zealand (IANZ) will cover the entire year's work and the stakes are high.

"If you do something for a whole year and then told it's a waste - how do you cope?" one student says.

"I feel like going to the psychiatrics at this young age."

The deportation fear is very real for many students.

"All the hope is on me, because I am the elder in the family now," says another student.

"I can't explain the situation to them."

In some cases if they fail, they may have to re-enrol in a new school with a whole new set of fees.

And failure is a real concern.

The students have just a few days left to study at IANZ. They say they're being asked to swat up on a whole year's worth of material for exams just next week.

"We think it is enough time, especially where there is structure provided and they can access workshops," says NZQA's Grant Klinkum.

The students' uncertain futures comes after an NZQA investigation found serious problems with the way IANZ tested students.

Tutor Jaswinder Kaur told Newshub she was asked to falsify English language tests at the school to make sure the students passed.

The students say sometimes no teachers even showed up.

We wanted to ask owner Exzur Peralta about the management of his school but he didn't answer our calls and wasn't home when we visited.

In the meantime, NZQA is urging the students to get in touch with questions about their futures.

At this stage, they're far from certain.

Newshub.