by Paritosh Parasher/IANS

Melbourne, Dec 9: Scores of Indian students in Australia have been exposed to an uncertain future as two more colleges here have been shut down by a state regulator, The Age reported Tuesday.

The Australian Institute of Career Education and the Australian International College of Commerce were closed by the Victorian Registration and Qualification Authority (VRQA) Monday as they failed to meet the "most basic education standards".

The shutdown of the two Melbourne-based private colleges has left 129 international students without much idea about their immediate future.

Gopi Chengareddy, owner of the Australian Institute of Career Education, could not be contacted by IANS despite numerous calls.

The colleges were, according to The Age, closed down as they had "inadequate learning materials" and lacked basic kitchen facilities to teach their cookery students.

Improper record-keeping and under-staffing of the colleges were also cited as two other reasons for the closure.

Around 40 Melbourne colleges teaching international students are currently undergoing rapid audit to weed out operators who have brought disrepute to Australia's multi-billion international education industry.

The closure of the two colleges has increased to 11 the number of 'dodgy' institutes, which have closed down in the second half of 2009.

The voluntary or forced shutdowns have displaced 3,000 students - a significant number of whom are from India.