From head start to headache

Saturday July 25, 2009

From head start to headache

Insight Down South by SEAH CHEANG NEE

SINGAPORE’S bid to turn the dream of millions of Asians for a 21st century education into a big business has run into a snag.

Two news headlines last week explained part of it: the first read, “Business school shut down for selling fake degrees”, and then a day later, “A second case of bogus certificates”.

Hundreds of students found their higher studies rudely interrupted when the two rogue schools were ordered to close, forcing them to scramble for alternatives or drop their study pursuits.

The larger of the two, Brookes Business School, saw 400 students (half of them foreigners) in the horns of a dilemma.

It also delivered a blow to Singapore’s image as a reliable hub for higher education, which now caters to an estimated 100,000 foreign students from 20 countries.

Privately-run Brookes had handed out fake degrees from top universities in Britain and Australia, including the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, which has lodged a police report.

In the other case, 40 students, all from abroad, suffered the same fate.

The closures came as a shock to the students, some of whom only found out when they arrived to find the doors locked.

They are the latest in a series of scandals in recent years committed by rogue merchants “who cashed in on people’s dreams” (as one critic put it).

The victims, from Singapore, China, India and countries in South-east Asia, were duped into paying S$12,000 to S$18,000 a year for a worthless piece of paper.

They came because of Singapore’s reputation for high standards, believing that any school that registered with the government must be reliable.

After the news broke, several Singaporeans who graduated from Brookes Business School with fake RMIT degrees resigned from their jobs before they were found out.

In the past four years, about a dozen reported cases of bogus degrees or misleading claims about the mushrooming private schools have left thousands of foreigners stranded.

These samples of news headlines indicate the scope of it:

> Feb 25, 2009: “Four Private Schools Closed — Be Careful!”. Altogether 11 have failed in the past year due to poor enrolments, with many students losing their money.

> Oct 24, 2008: “Fancy Setting, Worthless Degrees”; 76 people graduate with worthless papers from an unaccredited university known as a degree supplier.

> Sept 15, 2008: “Stop These Degree Courses, School Told”; Ministry of Education revokes approval for University of Northern Virginia courses; 270 students were affected.

> June 9, 2007: “Froebel Shuts Its Doors To Angry Students”. Mostly students from China, they protested against the non-issuing of certificates and no refunds, while lecturers were not paid for work.

> Sept 20, 2006: “Two China students Sue IT School” saying they had paid S$80,500 for a “misrepresented” Masters course. A check by reporters found its premises vacated.

> Sept 2, 2005: “900 Students Hit By School’s Closure”. The affected were mostly foreigners, having to leave AIT Academy when it failed to meet government standards.

In perspective, these make up only a fraction of the nation’s 1,200 private — mostly small — schools. So is the proportion of rogue merchants that cash in on people’s dreams.

The black mark does not affect the majority of education ventures in Singapore — particularly the mainstream universities and official institutions — which provide high quality courses.

However limited in number, these few high-profile scams are spreading far and wide across frontiers that could hurt the city’s image as a reliable, distinctive hub.

As a victim from China said: “If people in China hears about this, fewer of them will come to Singapore.”

The government is worried that the cheating cases could undermine the country’s fast-growing, US$8bil a year education hub.

It plans to enact a new Private Education Bill later this year to impose tougher penalties on commercial ventures (including hefty fines and imprisonment) that misrepresent themselves and leave students in the lurch.

Until then, it is tightening supervision on them; last year it took measures to protect students from unfairly losing their fee money.

Critics blame it partly on the government for allowing these schools to proliferate so quickly that it makes screening or supervision almost impossible.

One of them blogged: “The question is, how could something so good go so bad and so fast in this efficient city?”

Some of them are calling for a scale-back of plans to have 150,000 foreign students here by 2015 — a 50% increase from current figures.

Their rationale is this already over-crowded city will not be able to cope with it.

People’s Action Party backbencher Inderjit Singh said: “I don’t think numbers are important. We should get in (a few) respectable names first.”

It is unlikely to be heeded though, with Singapore’s other hub activities likely to remain weak in the coming years.

“Education is the most resilient of all the hubs, and it has survived the recession relatively unscathed,” said a private tutor. He is getting more classes to teach.

Not all foreigners who end up with a worthless degree or diploma are con victims.

Some of them, who lack the minimum qualifications to be accepted for a mainstream institution (many hardly speak English), or are too poor to afford to afford it, are willing participants in the scam.

For them, a fake degree will help get them a job back home — which, of course, spells more trouble for Singapore.

Unless it is under control, a day may arrive when global companies start looking at a Singapore-issued degrees through a magnifying glass.

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Man in centre of fake degree controversy

Man in centre of fake degree controversy:

‘I didn’t change phone number’

Handphone was diverted to school line as he ‘didn’t want disturbance while police probed’

By Vivien Chan

July 22, 2009

AFTER all the reports of his designer togs and red Ferrari, I decided to ask the stylishly-dressed man about the label of the jacket he wore yesterday. MY SIDE: Mr Benny Yap, whose two schools offered fake degrees, held a press conference yesterday. TNP PICTURE: MOHD ISHAK He raised his eyebrows. Then his puzzled look gave way to one of amusement. He broke into a slight grin. ‘This is just Giordano,’ Mr Benny Yap Chee Mun said with a chuckle, fingering the collar of his black jacket. The 39-year-old is at the centre of a controversy over fake degrees offered by his Brookes Business School and Stamford Global Learning Centre. The schools were ordered to close last week for contravening the Education Act. The Straits Times reported last month that Brookes was peddling fake degrees from reputable institutions such as the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT). In the short time that I had with Mr Yap after the press conference he held yesterday, he revealed that he earned about $12,000 a month as owner/director of the two schools. Surely he lives well then, I asked, seeking to understand the essence of the man who cut a smart figure in a grey shirt with a white mandarin collar under his jacket, pairing it with dark blue jeans and black dress shoes. Does he live lavishly? ‘No, I don’t, though I would love to,’ he replied candidly. He lives in a five-room flat in Sengkang with his family. He portrayed himself as a family man: ‘I might as well tell you this: I don’t drink and I don’t smoke.’ Does he gamble? ‘No, I don’t gamble,’ he answered, smiling. He added that he is a Buddhist and goes to the temple occasionally. His eagle-eyed lawyer, Mr Subhas Anandan, who stood near Mr Yap, added with a grin: ‘He doesn’t womanise either.’ Mr Yap has a son, 10, and a five-year-old daughter with his wife of more than 10 years. Mr Anandan added that he has spoken to Mr Yap’s wife and sister, and is certain that his family is ‘standing by him and supporting him’. While he admitted having a ‘passion for racing, go-karting and sports cars’, Mr Yap said that he has never owned a sports car. Second-hand BMW Instead, he drives a 3 Series ‘second-hand Beamer’ (BMW). Mr Yap remained calm and composed when reporters grilled him earlier about the events that led to the closure of his schools. He appeared tired only once when he closed his eyes and rubbed his temple with his right hand. That lasted barely two seconds. He looked at me intently when I asked him questions, and kept his gaze fixed on me as he answered. The well-spoken man appeared confident and earnest. Mr Anandan told me how Mr Yap approached him to be his lawyer. Said Mr Anandan: ‘He came to my office and, like all clients, he was worried and came to talk about his problems.’ Mr Anandan added that Mr Yap was the one who wanted to hold a press conference to clarify some reports. The clarifications: He never intended to cheat students, and he never changed his handphone number to avoid the press. He explained that he merely diverted his calls to his school, and had instructed his staff to answer the calls. He did this because he is under police investigation, and did not want to be disturbed. Mr Yap said: ‘I am a victim, I’m definitely not out to cheat students.’ He claimed that he was ‘scammed’ by a Vietnamese man, known only as Mr Suong, who claimed that he was from RMIT’s offshore campus in Vietnam. He paid Mr Suong about US$10,000 ($14,500) for the right to offer RMIT business degree courses and to use its syllabus. Students who ‘graduated’ with the school’s bogus degrees have been outraged. Many have already landed jobs and are worried about being found out by their employers. Genuine RMIT graduates, too, are upset. They are worried that the credibility of their certificates would be tarnished. Mr Anandan said Mr Yap ‘is paying a heavy penalty for the things he should have done,’ including exercising more ‘due diligence’ and refunding students. Mr Yap said he has been forking out money from his own savings to refund about 50 students, most of whom were supposed to get RMIT degrees. Some had completed their studies at Brookes, while the others were halfway through. Each student received $12,000 to $17,000. Mr Yap claimed he had spent between $1 million and $2 million on compensation, staff salaries, and refunds so far. He said he found out about the closure of his schools only after they were ordered closed. Call from MOE ‘My staff SMSed me after MOE (Ministry of Education) called my handphone and was diverted to the school. ‘That was how I found out,’ he said, adding that he was ‘very shocked’ as he did not expect it. ‘My main goal now is to help the students, to transfer them to other 0000 schools,’ he said. About 90 students have been transferred, he added. He could not say how many students are enrolled in his schools but, earlier reports said Brookes had about 400 students. Having been in the business for a decade, will he return to education if this saga blows over? With a tinge of sadness, he said: ‘I’d love to, but I don’t think I can.’

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Brookes Business School

Brookes Business School
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mdm Halimah Yacob, MP for Jurong GRC
Question

(a) What steps have been taken to stop Brookes Business School from continuing with peddling fake degrees after the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology reported to the Ministry in 2007 about them?; and (b) What was done to alert the public so as to contain the damage?
Response

1Let me first set the context before addressing the Member’s specific questions. The private education landscape in Singapore has evolved rapidly in recent years. The number of private schools registered with the Ministry of Education has grown exponentially. It doubled in the ten years between 1987 and 1997, from 150 to 305. It then quadrupled in the next ten years between 1997 and 2007, from 305 to 1,200 private schools. Over the years, Government had adopted a light touch approach in regulating this industry, which included among other measures, basic registration and Casetrust accreditation for education providers.

2However, with the rapid growth in the number of private schools and the wide range in standards, this “light touch” approach is no longer adequate. MOE will be tabling the Private Education Bill for Parliament’s approval later this year to strengthen our regulatory powers to deal with errant private education institutions, as well as to work with industry to raise standards. The Council of Private Education (CPE), which will be established under the Act, will bring together individuals with expertise in education, quality assurance and business, as well as representatives from government agencies. The CPE will better regulate the private education industry, guide its development and ensure Singapore’s status as an education hub of quality and reliability.

3One key thrust of the CPE’s efforts will be to raise consumer awareness through more extensive public education. This includes the establishment of a Student Information Centre to provide and draw consumers’ attention to relevant information such as the list of external degree programmes registered with MOE. Degrees offered by Brookes BS were not on this list. This list has been publicly available since 2002 and put out on MOE’s website even prior to the RMIT’s complaint against Brookes Business School in 2007. Members of the public are advised to check degrees offered by private education providers with this list. If the Private Education Bill is passed, the CPE will require education providers to specifically inform prospective students if degrees offered by them are on the list.

4On the Member’s specific questions, RMIT had written to MOE in April 2007 to report that the Brookes Business School was falsely associating itself with RMIT on its website and offering RMIT’s external degree programmes. In the same letter, RMIT had also informed MOE that it had obtained an undertaking from Brookes Business School to remove all references to RMIT under its programmes and collaterals, to notify affected students, and to refrain from any such activities in the future. RMIT had indicated that it would initiate legal proceedings against Brookes Business School if the undertaking was not honoured.

5Subsequently in June 2007, MOE issued a warning to Brookes Business School for carrying misleading information on its website and other publicity materials. RMIT was kept informed and as MOE did not receive further indication from RMIT, considered the matter to be resolved through private action between the parties concerned. We also understand that no legal proceedings have been initiated by RMIT against Brookes Business School over the past two years.

6Let me assure the Member that MOE will take appropriate actions against errant private education providers if there is a legal basis to do so under the current Education Act. In June 2009, MOE and Police received reports by the students against Brookes Business School. The staff of the school is assisting Police in their investigations. In parallel, MOE has also conducted its investigations into Brookes Business School for probable contraventions under the Education Act. MOE has since cancelled the registration of Brookes Business School, on the basis that the supervisor is not a ‘fit and proper’ person to continue to operate the school. Another school operated by the same supervisor has also been closed for the same reason. MOE is currently helping to facilitate the transfer of students to other private education institutions, where possible.

7MOE would like to advise students to exercise due diligence when selecting courses and private education institutions. Students should check the MOE website to ensure that the external degree programmes had been registered prior to signing up. We also encourage students to check with the foreign universities to ensure that as students studying at offshore centres, they would be accorded equivalent standing as students studying at the universities’ home campuses.

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Fake-degree school closes

July 15, 2009

Fake-degree school closes <!–10 min–>

MOE revokes Brookes’ registration; students turn up to find door closed, no staff around

By Jermyn Chow
		Students who turned up at Brookes’ premises in Beach Road on Tuesday found an MOE closure notice stuck to the door. — ST PHOTO: ALPHONSUS CHERN

BROOKES Business School, which peddled fake degrees and diplomas to hundreds of students, has been ordered to shut down.

A degree in a year? It was all a scam GET a degree from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in a year for just $12,000. This was among the pitches served up to Brookes Business School’s prospective students and which The Straits Times exposed in a report last month. … more

The private school handed out bogus qualifications from brand-name institutions in Australia and Britain, including the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), in a practice which was exposed last month by The Straits Times. The Education Ministry (MOE) said on Tuesday it had revoked the school’s registration for contravening the Education Act.

The 400 students enrolled at the school – half of them foreigners – had little warning of the impending action. Many turned up at Brookes’ premises in Beach Road on Tuesday morning to find the door closed and an MOE closure notice stuck to it.

Some had been telephoned earlier by a staff member of the school and told that classes would be cancelled for the week, resuming in about a fortnight.

One of them, who gave his name as Thomas, 21, said the caller neither identified herself nor gave a reason for the cancellation. ‘It was so strange, so I thought: better to come down and get answers,’ said the Chinese national, who is studying for a diploma in tourism and hospitality.

He failed to find any answers though, since staff and lecturers were nowhere to be seen. Neither was the man at the centre of the fiasco, the school’s registered owner, Mr Benny Yap Chee Mun, 39.

Students said the last time they saw him was just after news broke of the scam in mid-June, when he called a meeting and assured them that the school’s degrees were bona fide, and that it would not close down. He had told The Straits Times that he had been duped by a Vietnamese man, who sold him a ‘franchise’ to offer RMIT degrees in 2007.

On Tuesday, however, an MOE spokesman said there was ‘sufficient evidence’ to prove Mr Yap ‘is not a fit and proper person to continue to operate the school’. Calls to the school and Mr Yap went unanswered.

Students have been told by MOE to approach the Association of Private Schools and Colleges (APSC), which represents some 40 private schools here, to help with transfers to other schools.

Dr Andrew Chua, its president, said that four receiving schools had been identified. He advised students to seek help at its secretariat at 9, Ah Hood Road, which will be open from 9am to 5pm from Wednesday till Friday. Students seeking fee refunds, which ranged from $9,000 to $12,000 for a one-year specialist diploma, should approach the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case) for advice, said the ministry.

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Aussie varsity denies links with Brookes

Fri, Jun 19, 2009 The Straits Times

Aussie varsity denies links with Brookes

IN RESPONSE to queries from The Straits Times, Dr Madeleine Reeve, Pro Vice-Chancellor (International and Development) of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), sent a statement excerpted here:

‘RMIT University has never had any association or agreement with Brookes Business School for the provision of RMIT programmes in Singapore. In 2007, RMIT also advised both the Singapore Ministry of Education and the Case Trust Secretariat of the representations made by Brookes, and expressed concern for any students affected. RMIT received confirmation from both bodies that the matter would be investigated.

RMIT, through an agent, also lodged a complaint with the Singapore Police Department, but was advised that the Police did not propose to investigate the matter.

RMIT completely rejects the claim made by Brookes that a staff member from RMIT Vietnam authorised an agreement with Brookes for Brookes to deliver RMIT programmes. RMIT has been provided with the name of the staff member allegedly involved, but there are no records of a man with that name being employed at RMIT Vietnam.

RMIT is extremely concerned about any misrepresentation and is currently considering all its legal options in relation to this matter.’

The Consumers Association of Singapore (Case), which acts on complaints against private schools, said it has received more than 10 complaints against Brookes Business School this year. But it said only one student alleged over the phone that the school was offering RMIT degrees.

‘The school informed us that they were misled by a supposedly authorised agent of RMIT. The school had in fact conducted its own investigation by visiting the RMIT in Vietnam and Australia and has since submitted a report of its findings to the police for investigation.’

Ministry of Education: Brookes Business School does not have any registered external degree programmes in Singapore. Members of the public can check the list of registered degree programmes at the following website: http://www.moe.gov.sg/education/private-schools/edp-list/

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I was duped too, says owner of school

Fri, Jun 19, 2009 The Straits Times

I was duped too, says owner of school

HE DOES not deny that the degrees are fake. But in his defence, Brookes Business School’s boss claimed he was duped by a Vietnamese man who sold him a franchise to run RMIT degree programmes in August 2007.

Mr Benny Yap Chee Mun, 39, the registered owner of Brookes’ Business School and two other private schools, told The Straits Times he made a police report last December after being duped by a ‘Mr Suong’ from RMIT’s offshore campus in Vietnam.

He said he paid the man an initial US$10,000 (S$14,550) for the right to offer RMIT business degree courses, and use its course syllabus. Police confirmed that Mr Yap filed a report on Christmas Eve.

Mr Yap said it was only in October last year that he realised that something was amiss after several students pointed out that their degree certificates had basic spelling errors.

He added that he only realised that he was not allowed to offer the unaccredited Brookes University degree programmes last year, after The Straits Times exposed a few schools for offering degrees from degree mills.

‘I really didn’t know. But when we found out, we stopped immediately. I am very sorry but I am not so experienced,’ he said. He has been in the education business for a decade.

He said he tried contacting ‘Mr Suong’ but could not locate him.

In December, he went to RMIT in Melbourne to inform them of the matter.

RMIT officials confirmed Mr Yap’s visit but said there was no record of a ‘Mr Suong’ employed at their offshore campus in Vietnam.

Mr Yap told The Straits Times that he stopped offering RMIT programmes late last year. But when asked why at least two students received ‘RMIT degrees’ from his school this year, he said that he had issued them reluctantly upon the students’ insistence.

‘I have told them that they cannot use the degree, but they still wanted them,’ he said.

He claimed that he had given refunds to 50 students so far and offered to enrol them free of charge in other courses he administers here, such as those run by the Institute of Administrative Management in the United Kingdom, which can lead to a degree from the University of Wales.

When asked why he had continued offering RMIT degrees despite his 2007 legal agreement with the university not to do so, he said then he had been appointed by another school to recruit students for its RMIT programmes. Asked why one of his employees had offered Ballarat University degrees to a reporter who called, when the institution said it has no such agreement with him, Mr Yap replied that one of his ‘new, inexperienced staff’ must have taken the call.

SANDRA DAVIE

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FAKE RMIT DEGREES: Psychology degree bogus

June 25, 2009

FAKE RMIT DEGREES

Psychology degree bogus <!–10 min–>

At least 3 grads with the fake qualifications are doing counselling work

By Sandra Davie, Senior Writer
		Brookes Business School, a private school in Beach Road, was registered to run diploma and advanced diploma courses in psychology and business, but not degree courses, says the Ministry of Education. — ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE

BROOKES Business School, the private school in Beach Road that was exposed last week for peddling fake Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) degrees, also offered unaccredited diplomas and degrees in psychology on the side.Among its past and present students are nurses, policemen and army regulars. At least three people who graduated with these bogus qualifications are now engaged in counselling work.

A 28-year-old, who works for a public institution, said he intends to opt out of his counselling duties. ‘Now that I know it was a bogus degree, I don’t want that on my conscience,’ he said.

The Education Ministry on Tuesday said Brookes Business School was registered to run diploma and advanced diploma courses in psychology and business, but not degree courses.

Also, instead of issuing the diplomas under its own name, the school broke the rules by issuing them under degree mill Brookes University, a virtual university which claims to be based in Cornwall in Britain.

Six psychology students interviewed said they were recruited by the Centre for Applied Psychological Studies (CAPS), which shared the same premises as Brookes Business School in Beach Road.

The registered owner of Brookes, Mr Benny Yap Chee Mun, 39, was also listed as the centre’s manager. Some time last year, the centre was shut down.

Mr Yap then started another school with a similar name – CAPS School of Business Management and Psychological Studies. Recently, CAPS changed its name to Stamford Global Learning Centre.

The Straits Times understands that more than 50 psychology students have approached Brookes to claim fee refunds, which ranged from $8,000 to $12,000 for a one-year specialist diploma, to $24,000 for a two-year diploma and degree.

Several have been told that the Centre for Applied Psychological Studies does not come under Brookes, although the students were issued receipts for their fees by Brookes Business School.

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RMIT to help confirm authenticity of certs

RMIT to help confirm authenticity of certs
I REFER to Wednesday’s report, ‘School peddles fake RMIT degree’. RMIT University is proud of the excellent reputation of the programmes delivered at its partner institutions in Singapore.

RMIT graduates who studied at any of our official partner institutions can have full confidence in the validity of their degree certificates and transcripts.

Official RMIT certificates and transcripts of results are embedded with a range of security features, which have proven extremely effective in enabling us to identify fraudulent certificates.

RMIT has never had any association or agreement with Brookes Business School for the provision of RMIT programmes in Singapore or any other country.

The university will continue to assist students who wish to confirm the authenticity of their certificates. For more information and help, they can go to www.rmit.edu.au/awards/verify.

Dr Madeleine Reeve,
Pro Vice-Chancellor
(International and Development),
RMIT University

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School peddles fake RMIT degree

Fri, Jun 19, 2009 The Straits Times

School peddles fake RMIT degree

BY Senior Writer Sandra Davie

GET a degree from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in just one year, for as little as $12,000.

Better yet, spare yourself the trip to Australia. Just head to Beach Road for evening classes once or twice a week, and hand up minimal assignments. No examinations required.

Sounds too good to be true?

Well, not to a few hundred Singaporeans who were persuaded by Brookes Business School in Beach Road to sign up for a one-year course leading to a fake RMIT Bachelor of Business degree.

A dozen of these ‘RMIT graduates’ told The Straits Times they enrolled between 2005 and late last year, and paid between $12,000 and $18,000 for the course, believing the programme was bona fide. At least one of them is still doing the course.

They were drawn by the fact that the school offered degree courses from an established brand-name institution. Also, it was a school registered with the Education Ministry and had a quality mark from the Consumers Association of Singapore (Case).

They attended evening classes in marketing or management once or twice a week and handed in eight to 10 assignments, which they were told would count towards their final grade. They were taught mostly by part-time lecturers whom they say kept changing. The school currently lists seven lecturers, including two expatriates, on its website.

But their suspicions were aroused late last year when rumours started circulating that one of their fellow ‘graduates’ received a stern warning from a bank after she applied for a job with her fake RMIT degree.

Of the dozen interviewed, two ‘graduates’ confirmed that they had used the degrees to land their current jobs – one as a senior administrative executive in a public institution and another as a sales manager in a multinational company. The others said they had not used their degrees, worried by the swirling rumours.

At least three managed to get full refunds of the fees they paid, after signing a form agreeing not to take any further action against the school. This was after the school’s owner, Mr Benny Yap, initially denied that the degree was fake.

A polytechnic diploma holder said that at first, Mr Yap offered to exchange her RMIT degree for one from another university, but she refused to accept it.

Said the service industry executive in her 30s: ‘Why would I want to replace one fake with another?’

Another ‘RMIT graduate’ working in an education-related business said she had been having sleepless nights worrying that her bosses would discover her certificate was fake.

‘I thought it was the real thing and worked hard at all my assignments,’ said the polytechnic graduate, also in her 30s.

Her assignments were never graded and returned, she said, but in the end she received a glowing transcript with more than a dozen distinctions.

A sales executive in his 30s, who only wanted to be known as Mr Chan, said he is still attending classes for his ‘RMIT’ business degree course. He showed The Straits Times his class schedule, notes and a receipt for the $5,000 deposit he paid.

He took up the course to improve his career prospects. ‘Now I feel cheated,’ he said.

Besides selling fake RMIT degrees, the school also peddled bachelor of business degrees from Brookes University, which students said they were told was based in Truro city in Cornwall, in the United Kingdom.

Four students said they had paid between $8,000 and $12,000 for this unaccredited programme and attended the same classes as the ‘RMIT’ candidates.

The Brookes University website describes it as a virtual university, without a campus. It claims to be accredited by the ‘Global Accreditation Commission’ in Wales, but adds that it is a ‘non-traditional university’ and therefore not accredited.

When The Straits Times called Brookes Business School to find out what other degrees it offered, a staff member proffered a one-year course from the University of Wales or the University of Ballarat in Australia, both costing $18,000.

The Straits Times contacted both universities. Ballarat University, an hour’s drive from Melbourne, said it has no such agreement with Brookes.

The director of the University of Wales’ validation unit, Mr Huw Hughes, whose name and signature appear on Brookes University degree transcripts, said he wrote to Brookes in April about his forged signature.

Brookes’ Mr Yap replied, claiming that Mr Hughes’ signature had been misused by a former staff member.

However, the University of Wales confirmed that it does offer a distance learning programme through the Institute of Administrative Management (IAM) in the UK and that Brookes is a tuition centre for IAM programmes.

It is not known exactly how many people have bought counterfeit RMIT and unaccredited Brookes University degrees. But going by the class sizes of 30 to 50 cited by the students, the total is likely to run into the hundreds.

RMIT, ranked No. 10 in Australia by the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings, is popular with international students, especially for its business and IT degree courses.

Dr Madeleine Reeve, Pro Vice-Chancellor (International and Development) told The Straits Times that the university became aware as far back as April 2007 that the Brookes Business School website advertised RMIT degrees.

Through its lawyers, RMIT demanded and obtained a written undertaking from Brookes’ Mr Yap to remove all references to RMIT on its website and documentation. Mr Yap also promised to notify all students that Brookes had no association whatsoever with RMIT.

But earlier this year, a number of Brookes students e-mailed RMIT to check whether they were registered as students. They were not.

Dr Reeve said RMIT has since filed a police report here.

She said that RMIT courses have been offered here for years through a few private schools, the biggest being the Singapore Institute of Management (SIM), which currently has about 6,000 foreign and local students enrolled in RMIT programmes.

SIM charges about $30,000 for a three-year course. Doing the same degree at the Melbourne campus costs at least $100,000 in fees and living expenses over three years.

On average, polytechnic diploma holders are given a year’s exemption and have to devote two years to full-time study to obtain a degree.

SIM chief executive officer Lee Kwok Cheong said the fake degrees were a serious matter. ‘It clearly shows the need for new laws to regulate private schools,’ he said.

Under a new Private Education Bill to be introduced in Parliament later this year, private school operators who misrepresent themselves and leave students in the lurch will face tougher penalties, including hefty fines and imprisonment. Mr Lee advised students to do thorough checks on their courses and schools and not to go for short-cuts.

Meanwhile, one ‘RMIT graduate’ said she recently resigned from a well-paying sales job after learning that her degree was fake.

Said the 28-year-old: ‘I have come across many schools here that offer degrees from unheard-of universities in strange places. But when Brookes offered an RMIT degree, I thought there was no way it could be a fake, because no one would dare use the name of a well-established university like RMIT.

‘I was wrong. I have wasted all my time and money.’

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