First, the history and present situation of study abroad agents.
The official examination and approval of study abroad agencies has gone through several stages: the initial examination and approval is strictly limited, and there are only 68 domestic first batch. Either an institution with the background of the competent education department or a few institutions with strength, experience and institutional resources can get approval; The second batch was approved soon, which showed a remarkable feature in Beijing, and many ministries and agencies obtained qualifications; In 3-5 years, about 400 study abroad agencies have been approved in China. The year before last, the Ministry of Education carried out pilot projects in Jiangsu, Shandong, Tianjin, Jiangxi and other four provinces and cities, which were approved by the provincial (municipality directly under the Central Government) Education Department and put on record by the Ministry of Education. However, Shandong alone approved 10 institutions at one time. So far, more than 400 study abroad agencies have been approved or put on record by the Ministry of Education.
After 12 years of development, the number of self-funded students studying abroad in China has increased by more than six times, and the study abroad agency industry has flourished. It is difficult to count the number of various institutions that actually engage in study abroad intermediary services without obtaining the qualification of study abroad intermediary, which is far more than 4 17. Market competition, survival of the fittest, some institutions closed down, some institutions stood out and became large-scale comprehensive study abroad intermediary service institutions across regions and industries (such as entering the training industry). However, the brutal competition in the market has not made this industry as expected by good people: honest, transparent, responsible and professional.
Second, the problem of the study abroad intermediary industry.
According to incomplete statistics, about 60% of the students who study abroad at their own expense in China study abroad through various forms of study abroad agents. For study abroad agents, this is brilliant and proud data, which also shows that many students still need the services of study abroad agents.
1) study agent: what makes people? Love? Hate it again
Some people say that the study agent is a wolf. It is not terrible to know that the study agent is a wolf. What is terrible is a wolf in sheep's clothing.
What do study agents sell? Like McKinsey, it belongs to the consulting industry and should be authoritative and professional. This industry has a history of 10 years. There is no denying that some study agents have considerable management level and professional teams of a certain scale. However, how many overseas consultants can really understand foreign society, culture, institutions, majors and employment? How many consultants really have the ability of career planning and can really make scientific study abroad planning for students? Some so-called high-end people who instruct students to write application documents are equally full of mistakes, and even the names of institutions can be mistaken, which undoubtedly gives the study agent a loud slap in the face.
Let's talk about the study abroad agency. How much has the Ministry of Education approved? Study abroad agent? Plus some students who are essentially engaged in intermediary services for studying abroad? Consulting company? 、? College representative office? 、? Independent consultant? , domestic? College intermediary? And so on all belong to the study abroad agency. The forest is big, of course, there are all kinds of birds. There are many unscrupulous and lawless people who have their own institutions.
Speaking of. Fake? People in this industry keep their mouths shut. No one knows exactly how high the amount and proportion of fraud are, and no one can deny that some fraud has happened or is happening or will happen soon. According to the media and relevant departments, except for criminal cases such as private official seals, fake transcripts, fake diplomas, fake award-winning certificates, and fake bank credit certificates, all of them were created, but none of them were created. It really hurts students.
2) There are many complaints in the study abroad industry.
With the vigorous development of the self-funded study abroad market, there are more and more complaints from consumers. According to the survey, the hot spots of complaints in the service industry for studying abroad are mostly boasting in the early stage, and the implementation of services in the later stage is not in place, and the promises have not been fulfilled. Simply put, the impression given to students (consumers) is that there is a big difference before and after signing the contract. Before signing the contract, the study agent was like a grandson. After signing the contract, the students immediately faced their uncle. Take the complaints in 2008 as an example. In 2008, * * * received 2,468 complaints, an increase of 3 1.6% over 2007.
Through the analysis of cases of failure in studying abroad and complaints, it is found that even legal study agents are generally very dissatisfied with the huge difference in service attitude before and after signing the contract, and there are often differences in the understanding of the contract, payment of fees and refund. Once they fail to handle the case, they often encounter problems such as delay and unilateral explanation by the study abroad agent. The survey results of overseas study supervision network for students are as follows:
Third, the Ministry of Education's supervision of study abroad intermediaries.
1999 The Ministry of Education and the State Administration for Industry and Commerce have issued normative documents on the qualifications of self-funded study abroad agencies. In 2002, the Ministry of Education set up a foreign education supervision department in the Department of International Cooperation and Exchange, and published the information network of foreign education supervision of the Ministry of Education. After two years of rectification and standardization, the intermediary activities of studying abroad at one's own expense have gradually embarked on the track of standardized operation.
In order to severely crack down on illegal intermediary activities such as lending qualifications and disguised affiliation in the self-funded study abroad service market, protect the interests of self-funded study abroad personnel, promote foreign exchanges and cooperation of self-funded study abroad intermediaries, and strengthen the management of self-funded study abroad intermediaries, the Ministry of Education announced the core qualifications of qualified self-funded study abroad intermediaries such as legal representative and office address through the education foreign-related supervision information network.
In view of some problems existing in the intermediary activities of studying abroad at one's own expense, the Ministry of Education has taken a series of normative and rectification measures, including publishing the model contract of intermediary services for studying abroad, publishing the list of formal foreign institutions, issuing the early warning of studying abroad, and exposing serious violations through the news media. With the help of the network platform and media, the supervision of the Ministry of Education has played a guiding and shocking role in the intermediary institutions studying abroad, which has attracted more and more attention from the society and students.
Judging from the current situation, there is still something that the government administrative supervision can't do in view of the phenomenon that the agents studying abroad often lose the bottom line of business ethics. How to influence the behavior norms of study abroad agents regularly, disclose the illegal phenomena of study abroad agents regularly, and handle consumer complaints more efficiently may be a problem that the competent authorities are studying.
(Visit trend of foreign education supervision network of Ministry of Education, as of 20 1 1 10)
The Ministry of Education reminds students through the early warning of studying abroad that they must choose a school with reliable quality to study abroad. When studying abroad through an intermediary, should I check whether it is issued by the Ministry of Education? Self-funded study abroad intermediary qualification certificate? And the intermediary business issued by the local administrative department for industry and commerce that allows them to study abroad at their own expense? Business license? , and check its core qualifications. At the same time, if you want to know the qualifications of the selected study abroad institutions through formal channels, you should check the certification documents of embassies and consulates abroad to find out whether the intermediary service institutions have signed a letter of intent or agreement on cooperation with the institutions, and whether the letter of intent or agreement has been reported to the local education administrative departments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government for confirmation. When signing a service contract for studying abroad, we should not only write the core contents involving the interests of both parties into the contract, but also pay attention to whether the name of the agency for studying abroad signed in the contract is the same as that of the agency. Qualification certificate? The name on the match; When paying related expenses, you should ask for a valid invoice or a receipt stamped with the special seal for corporate finance to avoid unnecessary losses.
What makes students and parents feel depressed is that even if they follow the reminder of the Ministry of Education completely, they will still fall into various traps and still have various disputes with the agents studying abroad. Many complaints reflect the same problem: during the consultation process, even when signing the contract, no problems were found, and I feel that the study agent is very good and trustworthy. So, what is the problem?