Southern Cross University has responded after shock claims of a crisis were raised about one of their early childhood courses

Southern Cross University has responded after its 10-month graduate diploma in early childhood education was brought under scrutiny. Staff at the university told the ABC’s 7.30 program on Monday night that the course, which could bring in $150m in fees for the SCU with the course cost set at $25,000 per student, was “very low quality”. The institution was reportedly pushing the course “hard” with an estimated 6000 students enrolled in the past two years, journalist Adele Ferguson reported. The university’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Tyrone Carlin, said he was “enormously proud” of the qualification, which he said was designed to prepare early childhood educators with children’s safety being “paramount”. “Workforce shortages in the early childhood sector are well understood, and the University has worked hard to establish a course underpinned, within the accredited framework, by a commitment to quality, employability, and equity of access. “It is a carefully designed program built on years of world-class research, deep teaching experience, academic rigour, and sector engagement, by nationally and internationally recognised experts, including Australian Research Council and other grant recipients. “I am very proud of the academic and professional teams who teach and support this important course.” The program alleged that the graduate diploma had received massive enrolments from international students, with the course heavily marketed through immigration agents as a pathway to residency. One whistleblower told the program: “We’ve gone from having classes with 200 students in a unit, which was considered a lot, to over 2000 students.” Immigration agent Mark Glazbrook told 7.30 the situation should “concern every Australian”. “We have people coming into Australia on student visas that are studying courses just to use that pathway to get permanent residency in Australia and they’re looking after our children, and in some cases, they’re not attending their classes.” In one claim, the program aired emails showing the university had asked staff to join “phone sprints” to help find placements for students after the level of enrolment left it struggling to meet demand. “One email described the situation as a significant crisis, threatening the viability of the faculty, with 400 placements needed by May, and another 2381 by July,” Ferguson reported. The staff who found the most placements for students reportedly received a gift card. The program went on to allege that SCU was placing students in childcare centres that were not meeting minimum national safety standards. Professor Carlin said the graduate diploma was fully accredited by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA). “As part of their qualification, students are required to undergo multiple professional placements, which the University arranges for its students,” Professor Carlin said. “We have invested heavily in the infrastructure necessary to do this, and we will continue to put significant effort into ensuring students receive meaningful developmental opportunities on placements with reputable, high-quality early childhood providers.” The program said regulatory documents had exposed widespread gaps in basic care, including educators not understanding child protection policies, mandatory reporting duties, or even safe sleep and hygiene practices. Abigail Boyd, NSW Greens MLC said the situation struck her as absurd. “How on earth is it giving those students any kind of good education,” Ms Boyd said.