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