International students in the North Sichuan Medical College are facing a dilemma as they have just discovered that their school is not on the government's list of colleges for foreign enrollment and that their prospective degrees will not be recognized.
A group of students from the provincial medical school enrolled for the 2010/2011 academic year said in an emailed statement to RFA that they now wanted to move to a university among those shortlisted by the ministry of education but the college was unwilling to help them.
Worse still, they said the college, located in Nanchong city in Sichuan province, continued to enroll foreigners for the 2011/2012 term even though the ministry would not approve degrees it awarded to international students.
They called it an "admission fraud" and said the Chinese authorities and relevant education certification boards had "turned a blind eye" to a series of appeal letters they had filed with them.
"We have paid thousands of U.S. dollars to the school. We are from average income homes and it has not been easy for our families to sponsor our education here in China," according to the students, who said they were from the Commonwealth of Nations, a loose group of former British colonies.
"We are not safe at all and our future career will be in shambles if we continue to stay here. We want to leave this college to go to a recognized university where our final degrees can be duly recognized by the MOE [ministry of education] and all international bodies."
"We are helpless, [with] no one to defend us. Please help us," pleaded the students, currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery programs at the college.
WHO directory
They also said that based on the World Health Organization (WHO) directory of medical schools, the North Sichuan Medical School was not eligible to enroll international students.
"We have confronted the college administration on this issue but they have consistently ignored us."
Staff at the North Sichuan Medical College confirmed that the school was not on the government list.
"Correct. Our school is not on that list. As to why, you should ask the Ministry of Education. I am unable to answer that question," said a staffer at the college’s international education exchange program on Thursday.
The staffer, who is in charge of student recruitment, said that some countries from where students in the college came from recognized its degree.
"The Indian Medical Association had an issue with us and did not allow us to recruit students in India. They did not recognize degrees from our school. We have not been recruiting students from India since the 2007-2008 school year," said the staffer, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The school currently recruited students from countries such as Pakistan and Nepal, which recognized its degree, the staff said.
"The requirement of each country varies."
Reported by Ding Xiao for RFA's Mandarin service. Translated by Jennifer Chou. Written in English by Parameswaran Ponnudurai.