3 Canadian colleges shut down. Advisory issued for thousands of affected Indian students

The advisory assured students that there were avenues through which they could attempt to recover their lost money. (Representative image)

Thousands of Indian students were left in a lurch after three Canadian colleges shut down abruptly after collecting millions of dollars in tuition fees. The Indian High Commission in Ottawa has issued an advisory for Indian students affected by the sudden change.

Canada's CBC News reported that all three colleges --  M College in Montreal, CDE College in Sherbrooke, and CCSQ College in Longueuil -- pushed up deadlines for tuition fees, requiring students to pay up hefty quantities all of a sudden, issued a notice to students earlier this month that they were closing altogether.

All the colleges are run by the same recruiting firm, Rising Phoenix International (RPI) Inc., which has filed for bankruptcy.

This comes a little over a year after Quebec began to investigate several private colleges, including M College and CDE College, for "questionable" recruitment practices for students in India, reported CBC News.

Read: Explained | Why are Indian students in Canada protesting?

The abrupt closures prompted thousands of panicking students from India to flock to the Indian High Commission in Ottawa for assistance, since many of them had been forced to come up with thousands of dollars in fees without warning, only to have their education halted.

"The High Commission has been approached by several students from India who were enrolled in the three institutions," said the High Commission of India, in an advisory released on Friday.

"In the event that they find any difficulty in reimbursement of their fees or transfer of fees, they may file a complaint with Ministry of Higher Education, Government of Quebec," stated the advisory. It also assured students that there were avenues through which they could attempt to recover their lost money.

The advisory noted that the High Commission has been in close contact with Canada's federal government, Quebec's provincial government, as well as elected representatives from Canada's Indian community to provide support to the students.

The students were also informed that they are free to approach the Education Wing of the High Commission in Ottawa or the Consulate General of India in Toronto if they require immediate assistance regarding the issue.