AUSTRALIA'S international education industry has suffered another massive blow with the collapse of eight English language colleges, leaving 2300 foreign students around the country in the dark over their future.

The single largest group affected is in Melbourne and has an estimated 530 students unable to complete their courses. Some had just one more week before the end of their course. A total of 390 employees have lost their jobs.

Japanese-owned GEOS, which operates a global chain of English language schools, closed its Australian operations late yesterday.

Voluntary administrators were appointed to nine companies that operate eight schools around Australia.

Administrator Ernst & Young said about 500 students were affected in Sydney. Others were in Perth (480), Brisbane (260), Cairns (150), Adelaide (130) and the Gold Coast (265).

''The financial situation of the companies is such that the schools are not able to be re-opened … We are continuing to investigate the financial affairs of the companies and will report to key stakeholders in due course,'' Ernst & Young said in a statement.

Federal and state governments were last night scrambling to find alternative arrangements for students from more than 20 countries.

Vladimir Anelekov, 31, from Russia, had just two weeks before completing his course in Melbourne. He told The Age he was worried and didn't know who to turn to for help.

Marcio Alves, 33, from Brazil, who paid $4000 and was expecting to finish his course in five weeks, said: ''I think I lost money here. In Brazil I worked for one year to save for this course.''

Pascal Fux, 40, a banker from Switzerland, paid $10,000 and said he had come to Australia in the hope of starting a new life. ''It's a country where everything should work fine, like in Switzerland … but this is a bad way to start a new life.''

The GEOS closures follow the collapse of Chinese-owned vocational college group Meridian in November last year, which left more than 3000 students in Melbourne and Sydney stranded after investors lost confidence.

Following a college closure, students are entitled to be offered similar courses in other colleges or be given a refund for any tuition not delivered. Some students displaced by the Meridian closures are yet to be provided with alternative arrangements.

Industry insiders said the global financial crisis had hit GEOS hard and its Japanese operations were in trouble.

Even before the appointment of administrators, the Victorian education regulator had been in talks with GEOS to set up a trust fund and other arrangements that would have secured funds in the Melbourne business.

The Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority had become concerned about GEOS following a financial audit.

The authority's director, Lynn Glover, said in a statement: ''The VRQA had discovered that the directors [two Australian and one Japanese] have been diverting revenue from GEOS Melbourne to support the operations of other holdings in both Australia and overseas.''

（www.eduwo.com, Anna）