Let's Japan.org Debunking Eikaiwa and Ramblings in Japan

Efforts are being made at GEOS NA to make the schools and ops look oh so shiny for a sales try. If some of you haven't noticed, GEOS NA schools have made recent hires in a new Ops Director position and marketing staff have been added in the U.S. This to make it look like they have a proper organizational design for a buyer (and when the have no money).

Due diligence by a buyer of a GEOS school will reveal zero or negative values. (Leased premises, salarys paid in arrears, large pre-paids and so on). Domino 3 understands the situation well. Students have pre-paid for tuition and homestay services, That prepayment has likely either been spent on current day-to-day school expenses or has filtered back to Japan. However, incoming students need to have their tuition and homestay expectations satisfied. So those services must be paid for out of more recent pre-pays. Its a Ponzi. The Australian EY Creditor Reports clearly identify the ponzi-flaw in the current GEOS business model.
Provided money continues to flow in from new, but not yet serviced, students the business model will float. Any disruption to the flow or any intrusion by monitoring bodies simply causes the business model to flounder.
If student pre-pays are held in escrow or a trust-fund then the picture changes significantly. Management are forced to increased efficiency and clients are protected. NZ is on the ball here.

Spot on! Looking at the E&Y reports it still makes no sense why they closed all the Australian schools and not just those that were in need of closing. Accept that they had taken pre-paid fees and accept that cash flow was terrible, but some of the schools could have traded their way out of it if there was a total block of any money leaving until these colleges had build up their cash flows. Sure it would have been a trying period, but these schools had the numbers and the bookings and the agent support. These schools should have been allowed to trade their way out of it. There was NO consultation in this regard and the Directors simply closed the lot. I have no doubt that most of the Australian Managers would have said they could have traded themselves out of this, given time and given a total block of money to Japan and loans to other regions. I also have no doubt that many of the crediotrs would have given time as well if an honest approach was taken,,,,,,they'd rather have hung in as opposed to getting nothing.

Personally, it looks as if this was a well thought out scheme of Special K's....draining as much as he could from his cash cows (promising loans will be repaid, promising protection of staff and students), knowing too well that he is sitting 'pretty' in Japan and highly unlikely that he will be charged either criminally or by way of any civil action.

Then, with all the money drained from Australia, he knew the other regions do not have a hope in hell of surviving, so he starts to sell these schools to whomever will buy them...even for a $1

Why did he not offer to sell any of the Australian schools BEFORE collapse? Becuase he wanted to drain every cent from them!

In the sale of GEOS NZ, did the new buyer taken on the debts as well??

Yes, Australia was drained because a) Aus. has a student tuition protection system (all schools are paying for this now!) and b) they had a lot of cash laying around that Special K wanted to get his hands on.

Canada borrowed money last year to stay afloat, for itself and because Special K also took from this region. Now they have no Aus. cash flow and dwindling students. They are trying to keep afloat to sell to another chain. There might be some tax and/ or legal incentives to at least try.

Special K has been up on tax evasion twice in Japan...Ordered to pay fines in one, and also under investigation for other things in Japan. Expect anything out of this corrupt bastard.

P.S. Would love to see Mike, the former head of GEOS NA out of the NYC branch, get on here...I swear he was earlier, but I understand he is probably a little bit afraid, especially working for another school now.

Then you have the Freak Show of GEOS Canada and its dwarf clown leader, Uri Carnat. Freak Show compatriot and snake girl, Rita Chen. And, of course, all the little freaks, a.k.a. GEOS Canada managers. ;-)

Just revisited the GEOS NZ accounts for 2008, the most recent lodged with the NZCO. While we can't disect out the rentals from the accounts, it is worrying that total expenses (outgoings) almost exceeded total revenue (incomings) for the entity.
Interestingly, there is $18K recorded as non resident witholding tax which suggests someone outside NZ was maybe in receipt of about $100,000.
Are we talking about NZQA whizzing in to check accounts recently? While NZQA do make a mention of accounting issues in their 2009 GEOS Report, it can be argued that there should have been a lot more "whizzing in" to GEOS when you consider:
1. How late Annual Accounts were being lodged with NZCO.
2. Qualifications of those accounts by the auditors.
Domino 3 is again very accurate in his comment that the "new" language school will now be just another college amonst many chasing clients. In light of the gfc linked increase in cbd office vacancies in NZ cities the company might be able to negotiate rents downwards. But they are inherently weakened by the expense of being spread over three sites. This is relevant in that incoming students will be thinking of coming to NZ rather that thinking of any particular city. Maybe time for some consolidation, but that's really tricky for a newly taken over company....just how many changes will clients/agents accept.
If you want to keep a watching brief on the company, and the 2009 Accounts will be lodged with NZCO sometime soon, search for company number 248543 on the NZCO website

And my advice to any student from any country wanting to attend any course at any private sector college anywhere in the world is:

"Don't pay more than 4 weeks fees in advance. You can cope with the pain of losing that much if you grit your teeth and cuss."

And if that won't satisfy the college or the visa requirements, advice number 2 comes into play:

"Change your plans, do something else, you won't regret it."

Not so 'Smart Students' Both Australia and NZ have proven to have reasonable fee protection systems and NZ the stronger. Long payments are necessary for long visas so you are being a bit silly

To the person who said, "And, yes, GEOS NA managers read this. I have caught a few on here. And teachers, too. ;-) "

Oh, really? Who? How is that you know that? Do you have access to their digital DNA? Maybe it was an electronic signature they carelessly left behind? Did you develop a way to take a virtual finger print? Let us know. I am sure we all would love to learn about this new technology of yours.

6:43 Looks like the person was proven right after all. Who else would respond in such a sarcastic, immature manner? No one else took offense to this comment, nor many others, but why did you? You just got called out and got trapped in this person's net. Sad part is you probably have no idea what I am talking about nor never will. ;-)

Things do not always have to be "technological"...Psychology is a wonderful thing. :-)

Nice to see a GEOS manager on here.

"Even if you accept the ridiculous lies that Geos Japan has no financial stake in the overseas schools, can you really seriously say that Geos schools overseas going bankrupt, closing etc. will not have anything to do with Geos image in Japan??!?! They partially dodged the bullet on Australia (but it had to have hurt regardless). Do you really think they will be able to keep doing that when more schools fail (the agents were certainly watching even if the Japanese media did not pay much attention)? "

NOBODY in Japan knows that Geos is operating globally... nor do they care!

"With people like you in the company, no wonder it is having problems."

I am not, nor ever have been a GEOS employee. BUT nice of you to paint someone who disagrees with you as the enemy... With people like you in the UNION, no wonder it is having problems! ha ha ha

Students do know that GEOS is operating globally. That is why some book with GEOS schools overseas. However, they have been doing so . My friend in Canada even noticed that Japanese students started booking for only 3 or 4 weeks, instead of the usual 3 or 4 months (or more). They just wanted GEOS for a basic orientation and some quick English lessons, but then knew they wanted to go it alone or with another school, most likely a an American or Canadian one. There agents in Japan promoted GEOS because it is "Japanese", but these older students knew it wasn't a great school.

8:47 What are you talking about? All you seem to do is discount everybody and what they have to say on here. And the rest you post makes no sense or just seems to try refute legitimate posts with no evidence to the contrary.

Do you actually think people would get on here and post rumours for the fun of it? No GEOS managers or staff post here??? What? Are you serious? The only people who have interest in posting are GEOS staff or ex-staff, the latter having every right in the world to expose the bs. The average person knows nothing of this board or GEOS in general, and therefore would not have the slightest reason to get on here. Only teacher, staff and others connected to GEOS would. Deal with it.

8:47 No Geos staff/ teacher here? Well, I am one. Still. And while I have been mostly an observer on here for some time, watching the fireworks, I might start posting some stuff that has not been said on here. Then the real fireworks might blow up in a few managers faces. Yes, yes, I am STILL a teacher with Geos in Canada. An "insider" as some would call me on here. But you won't be able to find out who I am, because I , too, agree there are current managers on here. Hence my patience before the storm. Choosing my words carefully.

I agree mostly with the last post. But I would go a step further and say that most on here is true, even if unverifiable because people and/ or relationships would be exposed. And the unsubstantiated rumours, like the deadline for the big announcement person, are most like GEOS managers looking to stir the pot and say "see, it did not come true! We are perfect."

I respect people for not posting everything they know to protect their careers, but I will not believe any posting about a "big announcement" without some proof. I think that can be done without giving away the person.

There is no "RAM" that I know of. The Craigslist posting just looks like fluff, trying make oneself look bigger than they really are.

Actually, I cross-reference the posting about the Web sites and the person seems to be mostly right...Here is why...

* While you might know something about Web site development and proper management, do not expect the same. In fact, they always seem to find a way to do things haphazardly or backwards. So you might know that it won't work, they do not. Trust me, I know of a few GEOS managers in Canada that have absolutely no clue what a proper Web site strategy (or any strategy) means. They blow money on the dumbest of things and then do not spend on what they should.

* The school making the most money are getting the makeovers, while Toronto and Calgary are left. These "makeovers" come on the heel of a certain NA VP that had a meeting recently. Meeting = decisions = Web site changes suddenly, even when GEOS moves at a snails pace.

* They are also adding programs and staff on the Web sites that they currently do not have. Again, I think this person saw that they were fluffing things for perceptive value....Whether that will work or not is another question, but I can really see GEOS doing something like this. They are desperate.

Again, I looked at what else was said and I do not think that person who just make it up without some knowledge...Like most on this board.

It is I again. Again, folks, the rumor, the rumors. As far back as 2006, GEOS had a NATIONAL Academic Manager. That manager would (at the time) report directly to N (I am not going to print the name) at GEOS, Vancouver. It was the responsibility of the Academic Manager to, of course, manage the curriculum at GEOS and make sure it was in force at the various NA locations. The local managers, of course, in NA parlance called AC's (though there was an older term for it and I know of at least one person with the older title). It is conceivable that are/were/will be Regional managers, but I cannot tell you that for sure. Until it can be substantiated, it is a rumor. That being said, what responsible person would advertise the position in Craig's List just to show us that GEOS is "bigger than they really are."

Your points are well taken. Thanks.

Actually, ACs or Academic Coordinators are not "managers." In GEOS NA-speak, managers usually mean SCHOOL MANAGERS. ACs are also Director of Studies (DoS). And "N from Vancouver" is someone everyone from GEOS NA knows or should know. She is gone, but known. And the "disagreements

The "Operations Coordinator" is an interesting new, and growing, position at GEOS NA. Why?
See, there are insiders on here.

What is your reference to some becoming Regional Managers? I know of one manager who is a "regional manager/ VP", but titles are thrown around a lot at GEOS NA due to disorganization and to massage the ego of some.

To the person who wrote about knowing lots in regards to Web sites and could not see how the other poster new Web site traffic is down for GEOS NA sites...Well, it is not hard to find out. There are a variety of public sites that offer Web sites traffic monitoring and year-on-year percentage comparisons. How did you not know these?

Alexa.com is one.

You stated, "Actually, ACs or Academic Coordinators are not "managers."

Well, de jure no, but de facto yes. GEOS "invites" all new managers to come to Japan for Professional Development Manager (PDM) training/seminars. So, GEOS fully understands that the AC and OC are managers in the real world, but to acknowledge that on the "meishi" would be tantamount to inviting inquiries about pay scale and other things, I suspect.

You ask, "What is your reference to some becoming Regional Managers?" Well, it is simple. I applied for the national position long ago. Why I did not get it is another story that would have the denizen here salivating for details. N_lfa was the person to whom I sent my application. Someone else mentioned the regional position. I have no direct knowledge on that.

And to the person who said, "See. There are teachers here," I say, yes I know that. In a previous post, I mentioned that it seemed to me that most of the people coming here are, in fact, current or former GEOS teachers.

I think we all have some knowledge on here and are stating what we know for the most part. Of course, even we do not know everything.

10:59 I was about to say you sounded like someone from a few years ago based on your references. Not someone I know, but someone in the know somewhat. Could you elaborate about the national position and any other interesting info concerning GEOS Canada without directly identifying yourself? Would love to hear more.

There are more than just GEOS teachers on here...but I cannot get into details right now. Maybe later. ;-)

9:40 who looks to be an Australian teacher / DOS does not believe that the market will learn much from the GEOS collapse in Australia (and we assume much big scandals internationally yet to come) He / she says

Yes, GEOS were/are a very shady badly run company but this doesn't mean that the way forward is more locally-owned schools, especially not in the UK or Australia. The overwhelming trend now is for bigger operators, not smaller ones. The same thing happened with the small restaurant industry; smaller operators were forced out by larger companies who can offer economies of scale to both customers and suppliers (in this case agents). Smaller operators may have a larger personal stake in their operations but they still recruit from the same pool of teachers as the larger operators, and the larger operations have much more money to invest in infrastructure, facilities, computers etc. (the stuff which is usually the first thing students notice and care about

But the analogy about the restaurant actually lends itself to the opposite conclusion. If the trend to economies of scale is unstoppable, how come chains can only dominate in the fast food sector (McDonalds, KFC) Almost no chains do well in quality dining. Mini chains, owned by an interested owner yes. But walk around your local restaurants and the majority are family /locally owned? Why? Because service, accountability and a need to invest in long term reputation are valued by customers. Also, internationally, there is a big swing away from cheap and plastic to something authentic, distinctive and personal.
For English schools I estimate the optimum compromise between economies of scale and local and personal character is achieved with something like 100 - 300 students. Maybe 1-5 sites. Interestingly IALC which exists to promote these sorts of operations allows schools with less than 5 sites, and then when they get above this they kick them out.
A fee protection scheme in Australia or even internationally would just have delayed GEOS's crash and protected students. But GEOS would still have crashed. The deeper problem with GEOS was their strategy of cutting margins and going for larger economies of scale. Basically that was about all GEOS was good at - numerous bloggers have pointed out their lack of skills in a range of areas. The Walmart model does not work for English schools. So I say again that there is much more to this story than an inevitable shift towards economies of scale. Local ownership and local character and local accountability have a value. THe GEOS collapse shows that discounting and outbidding on commissions to achieve 'economies of scale' is a dangerous game.

Both arguments presented are sound, but aiming for economies of scale is not a recipe for disaster. Look what Bunnings have done to the family owned hardware store. Chains enjoy the advantage of 'bulk buying' and these savings can be passed onto the consumer. Nothing wrong with this model. I don't think Bunnings offer an inferior product to the family owned hardware store.

It was not economies of scale that led to the GEOS downfall. There must have been some merit in this model as the schools seemed to have a lot of cash at one stage which was drained (we know this by now and we have read the EY reports on how much was taken and how much is owed to these schools). The Melbourne and Perth accounts have been posted on this site and again both these schools were highly profitable. No comment can be about the other schools as the EY reports have not been posted.

There are arguments for both models.

It was not economies of scale that led to the GEOS downfall. There must have been some merit in this model as the schools seemed to have a lot of cash at one stage which was drained

Sorry - don't agree. GEOS, like so many other Japanese companies concentrated on market share above profit. And they did this by a conscious policy, sanctioned at the highest level I presume of buying market share. They built the international schools up by using the huge profits from the somewhat unique Japanese market and then maintained some profits in some cases by outbidding all other industry players. GEOS paid the highest commissions and offered the lowest prices - of major players anyway. If you have razor thin margins and large numbers, and large overheads you are at risk.

As for their cash in Australia - yes some was profit, but a lot was fees in advance stolen from students.
Comparisons with Bunnings are off the mark. Economies of scale are much more important in the sale of consumer goods. This is a service industry and the benefits of economies of scale are much less.

Despite some apparent success in Australia, the whole corporate model ('Big will save us') of GEOS is flawed.

Hi, original poster here. Interesting points all round, certainly a cut above the usual speculation that passes for iron-clad fact on this website.

In response to some of what has been mentioned above; I've worked at schools in Europe which were essentially owner-operators running one site which were a shambles, mostly due to the very poor management of the owner and their total failure to understand how students learn. I've also been in single-site schools working to very high standards. The same is true of chain schools; look at the success of ACE in Australia as a working example of how a large corporation (Navitas) supports and encourages its schools to follow academic best practice, even though it means being significantly more expensive than their competitors.

I'd be interested to see what you all think small chains and single sites can offer students that larger chains can't (bear in mind though that I'd probably class the example of 5 or 6 sites each with 100-300 students as a chain though). I can understand that there is a perception that smaller schools "care more" and have more "local flavour" but I honestly still think this is a perception which isn't always born out in practice. For example; chains offer more opportunities for training and advancement, a greater range of classes to teach, they often pay more (many chain schools here in New South Wales have negotiated their own pay award above the government award) and crucially they bring much more marketing muscle and so are better placed to bring in a wide range of nationalities. And as I said, in most towns and cities schools all hire from the same pool of local teachers so the end product (i.e. the lessons as planned and delivered) is pretty much broadly the same wherever you are. In my experience smaller schools do no better a job of retaining great staff than bigger schools do (good teachers seem to follow the money into public-sector government/uni jobs or head into training/management wherever they are).

I think the key is with the attitudes of the owner and the key management staff that they choose to appoint; the success of a school can be judged less by the size of the chain than from the freedom that the owner (whether that is a larger company or an individual) allows the principal and academic staff to implement best practice and allow some balance between the ruthless pursuit of profit and providing the best possible learning environment for students. Both small and big schools are capable of this.

And I'm not sure I agree with you entirely about GEOS Australia. If GEOS Japan had left GEOS Australia to its own devices I have no doubt that certain colleges would have continued to be successful. Some GEOS colleges were clearly not viable but Perth and Melbourne were. There's room for all kinds of colleges and a lot of students come to Oz just as much for the atmosphere and experience as for the English lessons (or even just to work as much as possible while nominally on a study visa). In many cases GEOS Australia really nailed this market. They didn't cater to the higher end of the market by any stretch of the imagination but offered a reasonable product at lower price. Not perfect by a long way but still better than a lot of the really shonky operators in Australia. If they had been left alone (as a better-run company might have done) I have no doubt they would still be here today, ploughing away at the cheaper end of the market.

*sigh* and before the usual shit starts flying I'm not a GEOS manager, H/O troll, Mr K., Mr K's daughter, sitting at a desk in Canada or any of the other stereotypes some of the lunatics on this website seem to like throwing around the moment someone says something they disagree with. Just so you know ;-)

I concur to a well thought and objective view...and I too, am no troll, manager etc etc.

If you haven't got anything to say don't say anything pal.

Scurry back to your boring little union lair, there's a good little troll.

Yes, we are still looking for an AC in Montreal. Boss doesn't like strong woman or anybody with real experience. Possibly because they might disagree with the manager and are less easily manipulated than young people fresh out of college. GEOS managers like "yes men or woman."

Oh, and GEOS is in desperate need of a Korean AC to suck *ss to Korean agents, if you know what I mean. Nothing really to do with "academics" per se.

Yeah, and their site lists regular full-time tuition at $1,000. So $250 off the top for each month plus a free 5th week valued at $250. That is equivalent to $500 discount on what a student should pay $1,250. So $750 for 5 weeks? Then add the necessary agent commission of 25% +. Yes, the last poster is definitely right in that things smell a little desperate on GEOS Montreal's part.

Question is: Did the other GEOS Canada location also offer this? And what is the current "April promotion"?

Navitas? In high expansion mode. Hoping to develop partnerships with traditional tertiary institutions. File this for use in the the not too distant future - "Pride Before the Fall." This is the Land of Oz.

Looks like the GEOS Canada troll had enough of this board. Hasn't shown up today. :-)

@10:49 Thank you. A good friend of mine who has worked in private colleges in Australia for about 10 years has just moved over to the public sector though, she descibed it as "different bucket, whole new flavour of sh*t". Certainly a safer job for her (she's got kids). And the 65k a year + 17% pension contribution isn't too shabby either.

@09:10 I know, good luck to them though (it is a business and not a charity after all!). I've spoken with a lot of people who've worked for ACE and I rarely meet anyone who hasn't got a good thing to say about them. Whether Navitas can successfully manage their expansion while retaining the reputation ACE have remains to be seen. And ACE aren't immune to staffing problems.. rumour has it that in some schools they'll only take on low-level (i.e. cheap) teachers for General English classes and only offer expensive teachers 'specialised' classes (e.g. exams) as a way of keeping costs down. Don't know how much truth there is in that though.

Looks like the GEOS Canada troll had enough of this board. Hasn't shown up today. :-)

How about all the HO loyalists....they too, have been adopting a real low profile. C'mon guys, come to the rescue of Special K, your super hero. Defend the man who said he has zip to do with OZ, defend your man who sold off NZ for $1, defend your man who has abandoned Cape Town, defend your hero who, as rumour has it , has sold Europe.

Yep, even you loyalists feel like throwing up huh?

Further to @18.40, the Western Australian state government paid homestay fees too. Maybe it occurred in other states.

On the issue of English Australia membership and the reputation of Australian schools, will this now be something that agents look for? Previously a lot of schools haven't taken up membership. A DOS from one such school told me they'd decided it was a waste of money and the 'expensive' membership would only mean you'd be obliged to clean up after failing schools. I think I'd be concerned about attending an Oz school that didn't have that guarantee now. Any agents out there with an opinion?

To all those alluding to insider status in NA, we remain in the dark about fee protection there. Can you shed some light please?

I stand to be corrected, but colleges that accept students on a student visa must show that that have TAS (Tuition Assurance) as one of the pre-requisites for registration to the CROCOS register. EA is not the only body that can provide TAS. There is for example ACPET.

But take it as read that no school can admit student visa students without TAS.

Schools without TAS can accept tourist visa students and working holiday visa students, but only for a limited period. I would imagine that there may well be a number of non accredited schools operating.

I am also interested to know about the fee protection (if any) in NA. What about annual audits?

Here's a hot one. GEOS Europe has been sold to the regional director of Europe and one of the other managers. Any truth in this???????.....could explain why Europe has been so quiet and maybe Montreal guy is in Japan buying NA?

Well this rumour has been nailed. Official announcnement released today

"From Thursday April 1st 2010, the three GEOS UK schools in London, Brighton and Eastbourne plus ELS Paris are no longer part of the GEOS network. The four schools have been bought from GEOS Corporation in a management buy out by Wendy Teraoka (previously Regional Director, GEOS Europe) and Paul Clark (previously Principal of GEOS-LTC Eastbourne).

We will shortly be rebranding our three schools. ELS Paris will remain Executive Language Services (ELS)".

Well that leaves Dublin out in the cold. Perhaps the Manager of Dublin will model the Cape Town Manager...take the furniture and whatever you can and start up on your own.

You appear to be quoting something. What are you quoting. I would like to see the source or at least know what it is please.

Thanks 21.15 for providing GIEA website. These guys will lie until the end!!! They have absolutley zero ethical standards. They have the audacity to use the NEAS accreditation in their site......they still believe they have a school in Cape Town (you have three year lease obligation and no school) and they still believe they have 40 international schools

Surely someone MUST report this misleading advertsing or expose them in Japan. They cannot be allowed to continue get away with this.

GEOS International Schools, ACCET, NEAS, British Council, English UK, including the approval from the English education-related organizations around the world. カリキュラム、設備、立地等の質を、常に高く保つようスタッフ一同心がけています。 Curriculum, facilities, location and quality of our staff to keep in mind is always high

Oceania ニュージーランド New Zealand
ヨーInternational network of 40 schools ロッパ・アフリカ Europe Africa イギリス | フランス | 南アフリカ England | France | South Africa

You appear to be quoting something. What are you quoting. I would like to see the source or at least know what it is please

Below is the source:

A Personal Letter from Paul and Wendy
Hi from the two new directors of Language Teaching Centres. First of all, we want to say what
an enormous honour it is to be in this position.
As you probably know, we two have worked together as colleagues for over 13 years and
have a mutual respect and admiration which has enabled us to work closely throughout a very
difficult time. We are totally committed to our company, which covers the three UK schools
and Paris. (As you realise, we were always a separate company from other GEOS regions.)
Our priority has always been the schools, agents, students and staff of our Anglo-French
company and this has enabled us to keep our company financially secure in order to ensure
its long-term viability. We were happy to make personal investments in Language Teaching
Centres because we are fully confident of its financial future and growth.
This is a very exciting time for us. While we intend for all the staff, services and courses to
remain the same, we are also looking at ways we can develop and improve to give an even
better service than before.
As our agents you will know all our staff are stable and we have remained loyal to each other
and our schools at all times. Now we have a great opportunity to put all our energies and
resources into making Language Teaching Centres / ELS the sort of schools you are always
happy to work with at all times.
We are therefore going to contact every agent directly to talk about what we can do to
strengthen our relationship and how we can improve our services.
In the meantime, if you want to speak to us directly before then, please do so at any time.
Our details are:
Wendy Teraoka Paul Clark
Office telephone + 44 1323 727755 + 44 1323 727755
Mobile +44 7913042497 + 44 7944148441
Skype wendyeurope paul-geos-ltc.com
Msn
Warmest wishes
Wendy

You are correct about CRICOS and TAS. The ESOS Act demands that education providors (apart from a few exempt ones) selling to os students pay an annual fee to be a member of a TAS. As well as EA and ACPET operating TAS there is a scheme operated by the Sydney College of Divinity that would have been ideal for GEOS given that GEOS Australia operated on a wing and a prayer in the last years of its corporate life. In WA it was WAPETIA and not EA who picked up and worked thru the Perth GEOS mess.

Misleading advertising from GEOS? Nah...LOL

GEOS Japan, and other locations, have always and still do advertise to...But if they are all "separate companies" then why group them? Hwo can Special K siphon money from global operations so easily? Morons. And there are still GEOS NA sites trying to con people saying they have "over 500 schools (550 on some still!)" worldwide, etc., etc. Then, again, the GEOS NA VP manager, Uri Carnat I believe, claimed to be be a full member of the "Montreal Chamber of Commerce." Too bad it is actually known as the Montreal Board of (International) Trade, and he has never been a member.

So, any news on GEOS NA?

Can some post the GEIA link?

What GEOS NA announcement? Someone alluded to GEOS Europe decision by the end of this month because of the problems, with GEOS NA being today...However the Europe announcement came first. Any word on NA? I am sure the NA VP is scrambling to delay it...

Ah, it is April 6. GEOS NA D-Day. The day that Armageddon was to fall upon the GEOS world. How many have ascended the mountain top of public rumor only to find it offered nothing but another day of righteous contempt and wild speculation.