390: CON-CERTS, DUPE-DIPLOMAS, EXAM-SCAMS, AND QUACK-QUALIFICATIONS I – Diplomas Dished-Out by Diploma-Mills and Fraud Flourishes Worldwide!

02 October, 2008

CON-CERTS, DUPE-DIPLOMAS, EXAM-SCAMS, AND QUACK-QUALIFICATIONS I – Diplomas Dished-Out by Diploma-Mills and Fraud Flourishes Worldwide!

Dear readers and fellow-Apes; Con-Certs is a word – a compound-noun – I coined, and it stands for Con-Certificates or Counterfeit Certificates

The following gleaned from: Times Higher Education 2005

Fraud booms worldwide

By Tony Tysome: adapted and brought up to date since there has been no change at all for the better; rather a big change in all for the worse

The number of fraudsters, forgers and cheats has boomed in an increasingly lucrative global higher education market, according to a report that draws together evidence on the problem from around the world. Unprincipled academics and college or university administrators, and students – even parents – are implicated in scams that include fake visas and entry qualifications, dubious admissions practices, bogus institutions, plagiarism, dishonest grading, and forged qualifications

The report, by the Observatory on Borderless Higher Education, has found that almost every country with a university or college system has recorded fraud cases across the higher education chain. The phenomenon has mushroomed as higher education has become more international and commercial; and yet the report states that fraud in higher education is poorly understood.

There is little international co-operation between governments and quality assurance agencies to check for fraud even though it threatens the reputations, the continuance and existence of other legitimate institutions, higher education systems, employment practices, and national security.

The rapid growth, diversity, and often virtual nature of higher education has made effective regulations and quality control increasingly difficult, especially in countries where quality assurance agencies and other regulatory frameworks are relatively under-developed, and in situations where provisions go across borders and are shared among providers. The report identifies plagiarism as just one part of a much wider problem. In 2004, thousands of students in the UK were found guilty of plagiarizing course-work and almost 100 were permanently excluded. Figures obtained through the Freedom of Information Act showed that almost half of the UK's universities reported cases of plagiarism in 2003-04 – a total of 6,672. Westminster University had the most instance – 707 students were found to have copied original work without declaring it.

The Observatory Report also cited a study by Sweden's National Agency for Higher Education that concluded that the number of fake universities worldwide rose from about 200 in 2000 to more than 800 in 2004 – Daniel: Of course you realise that these figures are estimates and should therefore be multiplied by 8 at most, and by 6  at least. If, in four years, the increase was x 4, then use your brain, (IF) you’ve got one, to……

In the UK, some institutions with Dubious Credentials are on the Department for Education and Skills official register of approved education providers even though they are not accredited in the USA, where they are based. The UK allows any foreign post-secondary institution to operate so long as it does not falsely claim to offer UK awards or to be a UK university. Daniel: of course you realise again that this could only mean that the UK’s Educational Authorities and the College/University Administrators, in cahoots with the government are con-people with a conscience and honourable thieves

The DfES – Department of Foreign Educational Systems – highlights the difficulty by which a legitimate authority attempts to screen out illegitimate providers, but because its criteria are insufficiently rigorous, it in fact serves to legitimate some of the very providers it wishes to curb.

Instances of fake or worthless qualifications issued by Diploma Mills and Bogus Institutions around the world are on the rise – Daniel: I say they have already risen beyond possibility, feasibility, and credibility.

In 2004, the US Government Accountability Office reported that more than a dozen federal agencies had paid a total of more than $169,000 (£95,000) to two unaccredited universities suspected of being diploma mills. The report noted that tighter US controls could cut fraudulent activity significantly because much of it hails from the US and US associations; but the problem is truly global. 2004: the Afghan Government invalidated the results of university entrance exams for more than 6,000 students in the wake of evidence that test answers had been leaked, and it was estimated that there were 10,000 holders of fake US degrees in Malaysia.

The report says fraud is unlikely to be curbed unless governments, institutions, and agencies come together and work together to do more to tackle the root cause – the lack of legitimate post-secondary education opportunities, particularly in poor countries. It calls for the closure of legal and other hidden loopholes that allow fake institutions and accreditation agencies to operate, and for institutions to clamp down on plagiarism

Commenting on the report, the UK's Quality Assurance Agency said it was genuinely concerned about fraud and recognised the seriousness of the problem and the gravity of the situation – Daniel: Concerned about and Recognised! Horse-shit! What it’s going to do about it is what I would like to know! BY GOD!

Educational fraud: a global problem

The report says there are recorded problems at three distinct stages in the educational supply chain:

Stage 1: this includes bogus visas, false entry qualifications, dubious admissions tests and policies, and fabricated and/or substandard institutional accreditations

Stage 2; the Process Stage: this includes bogus institutions, plagiarism, and dishonest corrections and grading

Stage 3; the Output Stage: this includes fraudulent qualification – Daniel: With your permission, dear readers and fellow-Apes, I quote the title of this posting again: CON-CERTS, DUPE-DIPLOMAS, EXAMS-SCAMS, FRAUD-FELLOWSHIPS, QUACK-QUALIFICATIONS – Diplomas Dished-Out by Diploma-Mills and Fraud Flourishes Worldwide!

Australia: the New South Wales Education Minister told State Parliament that fake degrees are on sale from at least 40 sources in Australia

China: said to be the base for backalleypress.com, sold degree-diplomas, certificates, and transcripts from the buyer's institution of choice

Hawaii: the American International University of Management and Technology was closed down by a court order in 2002 for failing to comply with state laws. But it is still listed on the DfES register of provider in the UK

Israel: teachers, police, and civil servants were among 5,500 people alleged to have been awarded fake University of Lincolnshire and Humberside degrees

Nepal: the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority reported tens of thousands of government employees, including teachers and police-persons, holding fake degrees

South Africa: in 2003, it was estimated that more than 15% of South Africans obtained their employment using bogus qualifications

Thailand: a candidate for the Thai Senate had his application rejected when it was discovered he had a degree from an unrecognised university

The UK: UCAS reported 1,000 fake qualifications among home and foreign applicants in 2004, twice the number in 2003

The USA: State of Michigan listed 600 fake, unauthorised, or substandard institutions

Daniel: Dear readers and fellow-Apes; I’m glad the report did not include all African countries, the Middle-East, and the Arab and Arab-speaking countries, or all the countries in the whole wide world. It would have been painfully pathetic. However, and but! Some of us can use our brains since first, we've got one; and second, not all of us are Etc, and so forth and so on.

tony.tysome@thes.co.uk

Posted by akill 07:14 | General | Comment(2) | Permalink

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