The Lester B. Pearson School Board is asking its international vocational students to pay fees directly to them, offering a possible clue into what triggered two investigations into the troubled institution.
The request may be due to a business deal gone bad. In 2013, the school board approved an exclusive five-year partnership with Naveen Kolan, the India-based founder of a company called Edu Edge, to recruit international students for its vocational school.
According to documents obtained by CTV Montreal, both sides would collect tuition fees under the agreement and all expenses and revenues would be shared equally.
In 2014, Kolan registered a company in Quebec named LBP Vocational College.
In the agreement’s first year, the vocational school was located in Tabachnick Pavillion in Dorval and was home to just a few classes. By spring of 2014, the board opened a larger centre on Robert Bourassa Blvd. downtown and saw an enormous increase in the number of students and of revenue, growing to 300 students, each of whom paid $22,000 to attend. That accounted for over $6 million in revenue that year.
According to a CTV Montreal source, that’s when the board attempted to renegotiate the 50/50 split and withheld at least a portion of Kolan’s share.
The source added that the businessman replied by withholding millions in tuition fees he had also collected and requested an audit by a third party.
The board refused that request, saying they sent a letter informing Kolan of their intent to cancel the contract.
According to the source, Kolan denied receiving that letter. He could not be reached for comment.
The LBPSB and English Montreal School Board are both being investigated by UPAC, the province’s anti-corruption unit, as well as by an auditor appointed by the education minister. In November, members of the LBPSB contacted UPAC after discovering “irregularities” concerning their vocational college.
