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A Chinese nursing student who believes she was failed in her final year of a Bachelor of Nursing course because of her accent is taking Auckland's Unitec to the Human Rights Commission.
Linda Tang, 42, says her tutors say people were unable to understand her, meaning she would not be able to provide proper care to patients.
She dropped out of her course last week, believing her tutors were making it impossible for her to pass.
Tang, who held a Bachelor of English degree and had previously taught English at a Chinese university and to immigrants in New Zealand, had passed an English language test for admission into Unitec's nursing degree.
"To say my English is not good enough is just an excuse," she says.
"I feel that what they have done is discriminatory, especially to the Chinese, because we are penalised not for our lack of knowledge or ability, but simply because of how we talk."
A Unitec spokesman says representatives would attend a meeting with the Human Rights Commission on Friday.
More than a third of Unitec's 180 nursing students were Asian, with Chinese making up 12.7% of first year students and 19% of its final-year students.
