Staff at the Limerick-based English language school that closed unexpectedly, leaving about 250 students in limbo, have been told a process is under way to restart classes over the coming weeks.Senior managers at Student Campus, some of whom had previously resigned their positions, told staff on Friday that after weeks of uncertainty the owners had initiated the formal closure process. This, they said, would allow a “contingency plan” involving one of the sector’s trade organisations, the Progressive College Network (PCN), to be put into effect.“Students should be reassured that the purpose of the contingency plan is to minimise disruption and ensure that classes can resume as soon as possible,” staff were told.“While there are still important details to be confirmed, the intention is to provide students with a clear pathway to continue their studies, and efforts are already under way to make this happen in the shortest time frame possible.”Efforts to contact the previous owners of Student Campus were unsuccessful.David Russell, a director of another language school in Limerick, NED, and chairman of PCN, told The Irish Times the organisation intends to take over the running of Student Campus with financial support from the insurer Academy Plus.He said while many of the students did not have valid learner insurance policies with Academy Plus because of the financial problems encountered by the previous owners, an emergency fund existed to cover such scenarios and the insurer was “going to do the right thing”.Academy Plus did not respond to attempts by The Irish Times to contact it.[ Education Ireland’s most unusual and intriguing third-level coursesOpens in new window ]Russell said the process would normally see students transfer to other schools with the insurer paying their fees. However, there was no capacity to absorb such a large group of displaced students in the Limerick area and so restarting classes at Student Campus was regarded as the most practical solution, he said. All staff would be offered their jobs back and contracts with students would be honoured although Russell said staff would have to pursue the previous owners for the roughly two months’ wages they are owed.He said he hoped classes might restart this week or “the following week at the latest”. Some of those impacted by the situation said while they would welcome classes restarting, they were not sure PCN could successfully complete the takeover.The previous owners of the college, meanwhile, also sent an email to staff in the days since The Irish Times reported the college’s closure last Thursday. In it they said they had recently taken over the business in good faith but had subsequently discovered its financial position was worse than they had believed during the acquisition process.They said that as they sought to get to grips with that, a decision by PCN to suspend Student Campus’s membership had impacted on their ability to secure the insurance policies it was required to take out on each individual student. “The new management made repeated proposals requesting time and opportunity to regularise the situation, reinstate membership, and ensure continuity for students. These proposals were not accepted, and sufficient opportunity was not provided to reach a practical or collaborative resolution,” they said in the email.“The management’s position is that greater co-operation, engagement, and flexibility from the relevant organisations could have provided a viable opportunity for the school to continue operating.”Asked about the situation, the Department of Justice, which effectively regulates the sector and publishes the Interim List of Eligible Programmes (ILEP) – a list of courses approved by the department for visa purposes that tends to be viewed by prospective students as an official endorsement – said it was aware of the situation at Student Campus. Despite the uncertainty surrounding the school, its 19 courses continue to be listed in the ILEP.“The department is monitoring the situation and will provide information in relation to the status of affected students’ immigration permissions in due course,” it said.