Over 1,200 students of Tasmac London School of Business have been left in the lurch after the institute decided to close on October 6 without informing them.
According to students of the institute, Indian students comprise nearly 30 per cent of the 1,200; they include 22 from Mumbai and over 200 from Maharashtra. These students are in a desperate situation, with some even contemplating suicide, as they cannot return to India without completing their studies for which they paid through loans, mortgages or borrowings.
According to Satish Gupta, a student in the second semester of the 16-month MBA programme at the institute, the students received an email from the directors of the B-school on October 6 at midnight. The email simply said the institute would not be able to offer the courses any more due to the change in the United Kingdom Borders Agency (UKBA) regulations, and its operations would cease with immediate effect.
“We had been waiting for the results of the exams we gave in September. The announcement caught us totally unawares,” Mr Gupta said. He added that when the students went to the campus on Friday morning, they found that the institute had been locked out and the lawyers were in possession of the property.
“Neither the staff nor the students were informed. We have approached the Indian embassy, the police and the Brent Council. The Indian embassy has asked us to fill up some forms after which they will initiate action, and the Brent Council has asked us to verify whether the building in which the institute was operating is legal,” Mr Gupta said.
In a statement (a copy of which is with The Asian Age) released by the directors, who are currently in Pune, they said they are doing everything in their power to ensure that the students complete their education, and have requested the University of Wales, to which the institute was affiliated, to cooperate in transferring the visa sponsoring process of the students to institutes offering similar courses.