Malaysians suffer from Phony Diploma's

[michael]

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/National/20050727074930/Article/indexb_html

Thousands of Malaysians are holding worthless qualifications from two bogus universities which may have netted more than RM28 million from their scam.

[dhfr]

Appalled by late announcement (http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/National/20050728075418/Article/indexb_html)

Snippet:The news that Cambridgeshire University and Irish International University were confirmed as bogus was greeted with confusion and distress by the public today. ...

[Robert J.]

Akamai University got called "Dubious" and also said to be under investigation.

Akamai was a "From the Source" participant. Perhaps we can get a statement from them.

[dhfr]

It's often been said that one of the problems that unaccredited universities face is that they can easily be lumped in with the totally fake ones. And of course, the totally fake ones encourage this.

[dhfr]

Many duped into getting bogus degrees, says DAP (http://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news.cfm?NewsID=36061)

Cambridgeshire University obtained approval for some short courses, and used that documentation as evidence of approval of the university as a whole.

[dhfr]

EDITORIAL: Shields against diploma mills (http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Saturday/Columns/20050730081434/Article/indexb_html)

[Robert J.]

"The Higher Education Ministry can shield them from getting ripped off by developing a reliable database which would allow the wheat to be separated from the chaff."

Who wants to take the first bet on its reliability?

[George Brown]

Well, I, for one, would suggest that it is the most reliable method. Do remember the voluntary accredited/ unaccredited quandry only plagues the USA. In Australia we have an AQF Register. If you aren't on the list, you can't offer degrees. It's as simple as that. Countries like the UK and their Education Reform Act have loopholes which (given the state of play re-the Irish issue) will most likely be patched up one day. A register of approved providers makes total sense - its black and white. The shades of grey that pervade in Oregon, Michigan etc. do not apply here, nor in Malaysia and the majority of other countries.

Cheers,

George

[Robert J.]

Do remember the voluntary accredited/ unaccredited quandry only plagues the USA.


Sorry, I think you have that statement dead wrong.

[George Brown]

OK then debate please.

[Robert J.]

OK then debate please.

Liberia? Seychelles? BVI ? Dominca? Panama? Seborga ?

Russia?

Denmark?

And my personal favorite...

France.

[George Brown]

Yeah, I know what you mean. However, one simple call to the Ministry of Education in each of these jurisdictions can give you a yay or nay answer. Given there is corruption etc, I freely admit that. I guess what I am saying is that all other countries have a central Ministry of Education that controls higher education in that jurisdiction. The USA does not, and the voluntary accreditation issue muddies the water.

Cheers,

George

[dhfr]

Yeah, I know what you mean. However, one simple call to the Ministry of Education in each of these jurisdictions can give you a yay or nay answer. ...I don't think it's this straightforward. A "simple call" to the French authorities would reveal that Sorbon (Ecole Superieure) is operating largely in accordance with the law and regulations, but that its degrees are not necessarily recognized by the minister of higher education.

Similarly, Knightsbridge may be operating legally, but its degrees are not necessarily recognized by the government.

The status of these two examples seems a lot like that of unaccredited state-licensed institutions in the U.S.

[Robert J.]

However, one simple call to the Ministry of Education in each of these jurisdictions can give you a yay or nay answer.

I guess what I am saying is that all other countries have a central Ministry of Education that controls higher education in that jurisdiction. The USA does not, and the voluntary accreditation issue muddies the water.



If you are going to state it that way, so does the USA, just look at the Chea website to see if a school is accredited or not, very black and white to me. It's no different than what you described.

Even though unaccredited degree granting schools get much fodder here, they probably make up less than 1% of the total degree granting institutions in the USA. In the USA it really isn't that muddy to find out about a school except in these rare distance learning cases if someone caught their first ad by the wrong school and a muddy B&M school would be even rarer.

p.s. if you can get an answer out of France About Sorbon or Russia about IUFS, I'll pay for the dime.

[George Brown]

The problem comes when US unaccredited institutions operate overseas, and this is of course where the majority of their revenue comes from. I'm not saying they purposely do this to deceive, its just that the confusion around the accredited/nonaccredited issue adds fuel to the problem of recognition. I still maintain that the only method is to develop a central register of approved higher edcuation providers within each jurisdiction. It's better than nothing. If you have a better idea, please elaborate.

Cheers,

George

[dhfr]

Overseas ‘Irish colleges’ told to stop using link (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2095-1714732,00.html)

[George Brown]

Do you think a centralised list of approved Irish higher education providers would help or hinder this situation?

Cheers,

George

[George Brown]

It's not just the Malaysians now, it's the British too!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2008/01/05/bogus_education_final_feature.shtml

Cheers,

George