Committee Reports > List of Committees > Joint > 1978 > Committee on the Secondary Legislation of the European Communities > Report No. 09 - Home Study Courses

REPORT

Introduction

1. The Joint Committee has examined the Commission’s proposal for a Council Directive on the protection of participants in home study courses (R/1985/77). The proposal is based on Article 100 of the EEC Treaty relating to the approximation of the laws of the Member States which directly affect the establishment and functioning of the common market. At present there are special laws in five Member States regulating home study courses. There is no legislation on the subject in Ireland.

Scope of Proposal

2. The proposal seeks to protect students taking correspondence courses both in regard to the standards of tuition provided and in respect of the commercial obligations undertaken.

3. Member States would be required to ensure that organisers of such courses are either obliged to be, or have the option of being, accredited for such purposes by a designated body. The activities of non-accredited bodies could be restricted or forbidden and accreditation could be withdrawn if the conditions laid down by the Member State are not observed.

4. Canvassing, advertising and promotion of courses would be subject to specific rules. A written contract containing specific provisions would be required and certain clauses would be prohibited. Advance payments could not exceed the fees appropriate to three months of the course and 25 per cent of the total cost.

5. The proposed Directive would allow the student to terminate the contract within seven days of the receipt of the first teaching materials and receive a refund of all payments made. The student could also terminate the contract at any time for good cause e.g. illness or unemployment or after six months without cause provided he gives notice which is not to exceed three months. In the latter circumstances the student would be liable only for payments which had already fallen due.

Views of Joint Committee

6. There are relatively few organisers of home study courses operating in this country and the Joint Committee has no evidence to suggest that abuses such as those which the draft Directive seeks to prevent have been practised here. Nevertheless, it welcomes the proposal as it accepts that students should be guaranteed protection by law and it believes that the Directive will operate to the benefit of reputable organisers by ensuring that a high standard is maintained.

7. If the Directive is adopted the Joint Committee considers that it will require to be implemented in this country either by statute or by statutory instrument. Insofar as accreditation is concerned, the Joint Committee understands that the responsibility is that of the Department of Education. Otherwise the proposal comes within the aegis of the Department of Industry, Commerce and Energy.

Accredítation

8. The proposed Directive provides that accreditation may be either mandatory or voluntary. It seems to the Joint Committee that voluntary accreditation should suffice in this country. In view of the small number of organisers operating in the country, it doubts if the expense of setting up a new body to act as the accrediting authority could be justified and it recommends that this function be discharged by the Minister for Education.

Termination of Contract

9. The Joint Committee welcomes in principle the provision which would allow the student a seven-day cooling-off period during which he could withdraw from the contract. It believes, however, that it would be rather unfair on the organisers if the student could get the initial teaching material relating to a course, photo-copy it and return it without payment It should suffice if before the commencement of the seven-day period, the student were given an opportunity of inspecting sample teaching material which may relate to a more advanced stage of the course.

10. The Joint Committee is concerned about the provision which would allow the student to terminate the contract after notice at any time after six months without giving any reason. It believes that it may induce organisers to increase their fees to protect themselves against such an eventuality. Furthermore, it considers it inappropriate that such a provision should apply only to contracts for home study courses but not to other contracts where the case for the protection of the consumer may be equally compelling.

Acknowledgements

11. In considering this proposal the Joint Committee received considerable assistance from Aontas (National Association of Adult Education), Kilroy’s College and the Home Study Institute. It wished to express its sincere thanks to those bodies.

(Signed) MARK CLINTON.

Chairman of the Joint Committee.

26th April, 1978.