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NEW DELHI: It’s a bitter lesson for international students, mainly Indians, studying at the Central Queensland University (CQU) in Melbourne, Australia. Hundreds of them took to the streets last month to protest against University authorities treating them like “cash cows.”

The allegations are that CQU “intentionally fails them” to make extra money. The tuition fee for each subject costs about Rs 75,900, which has to be paid again for the subsequent year.

“I scored 24 out of 30 in assignments and 7 out of 70 in exam. Do I need to say anything more? Even if we consider that I am an unusual case, can hundreds of students fail in a similar manner?” asks Suman, one of those affected.

University authorities however find nothing alarming about the fact that nearly half of the 375 students enrolled in its Issues in Management Accounting (ACCT20053) course flunked the summer semester exam. “We teach the same course material with consistency to all our students. If some students are not working hard to meet the high academic standards of the university, there is very little we can do about it,” says CQU spokesman Mike Donahue.

It’s an argument that cuts no ice with students. A 48-hour-long hunger strike by the students led Victorian Minister for Education Services Jacinta Allan to order a full audit of the CQU’s “shop front” campus in Melbourne.

“I have been particularly concerned at the apparent indifference shown by CQU to the students,” said Allan. The government’s decision notwithstanding, most students have still been forced to pay to re-enrol in a subject after being examined and failed on material they were not taught, alleges Shaik Shabeer Ahmad, a member of CQU Student’s Representative Committee.

This is not the first time students have locked horns with CQU. Last year there were similar protests and the university allowed the failed students to reappear free of cost, a generosity they are no longer willing to show.

Although CQU tops the chart in Australian education industry as the most successful university in recruiting, teaching and making money from international students, some have a different story to tell.

“CQU is infamous for intentionally failing its international students. However, their market is in India and no one knows about their operations back home,” says Raghav Singh, who studies at RMIT University.

According to a recent report in the Australian media, the failure rate among CQU’s international students is twice that of local students.

The situation, insists Bhavin Kumar D Vanzaa, is worsening by the day. “Such is the terror among students that they won’t even change their university after a year fearing that CQU will implicate them in some false visa irregularity, leading to their Under Australia’s immigration laws, a two year full-time education in the country could lead to permanent residency status, and CQU specialises in information technology and accounting courses, which earn students the most points. On the flip side, international students in Australia are not allowed to change universities for a year and may be deported if they fail their chosen course.

Not everyone can cope with the pressure. Last year, CQU student Anchal Sharma committed suicide by throwing herself in front of a Melbourne train after failing a subject in her final semester. And students say there will be many more tragedies like this unless the authorities in India come to their aid.