Degrees for sale

OPINION

CHALK TALK
Degrees for sale : the cancer in our education system goes beyond
By Chularat Saengpassa
The Nation
Published on May 2, 2011


In the past week, nothing in the education world has been hotter than reports about degrees and diplomas for sale from the E-Sarn University . But just as authorities are frantic to find solid evidence against the university, it is worth asking about the twists in our education ethics, and perhaps our social values.

Frankly speaking, word had spread for quite a long time that people could buy degrees if they wanted too.

A private university, for example, had openly advertised that, "If you pay all tuition fees, you get a degree for sure".

Some other higher-educational institutes may be less open. Still it is widely known that many such institutes have introduced rather expensive courses to generate profits and help their students - so much so that a 'fail' grade is out of the question.

Are such practices a form of degree selling? The answer is perhaps "Yes".

Moreover, thesis services are indeed available for students who can afford them. With many graduate students struggling hard with thesis writing, they opted to turn to such services in a bid to ease their ordeal.

Apart from word of mouth, people offering such services have advertised their expertise on the Internet too. Thesis writers usually charged a graduate student between Bt25,000 and Bt500,000 each. They have charged people seeking a doctorate between Bt200,000 and Bt500,000 each.

In many senses, the service users should be called degree buyers too - because if students don't pay extra, they will not get the master/|doctorate degrees they want.

The Office of Higher Education Commission (Ohec) secretary-general Sumet Yaemnoon has said that it is depressing enough to see some universities let their students pocket degrees so easily, as if they did not care whether the students learned something or not.

"But things are getting worse. Now, the degree sellers have allowed the buyers to get the degrees without any need to sit classes," Sumet lamented.

Several people have said the E-Sarn University contacted them about degrees for sale with the tempting condition that they didn't have to sit classes at all.

Many had taken up the offer, as they knew higher degrees would pave the way for their career advancement.

With the doctorate degrees, they could even apply for posts as university lecturers and enjoy many money-making opportunities.

It is widely believed that not just the E-Sarn University but also many other universities have been involved in degree-selling.

If one Googles "degrees for sale", one will easily find an advertisement listing the price of genuine certificates and degrees.

The advertiser guarantees that the degrees are not forged, payers can even get student ID numbers and check their records with institutes in which they have been enrolled.

A bachelor's degree costs between Bt37,000 and Bt90,000. Payers can attend the conferral ceremony too. For a master's degree, it costs between Bt120,000 and Bt280,000.

By paying an additional fee of Bt7,000 the payer can attend the conferral ceremony as well.

The advertiser does not allow the payers to choose which institutes they want to be linked to, but points out that the buyers can select their preferred field after which they will be able to jump into for the career they want.

Buyers are also promised nice grades and other documents to back up claims they have really studied at the institutes.

All this is closely linked to the labour market. For decades, Thai employers warmly embraced those with degrees from foreign universities, regardless of their international rankings and the degree holders' actual knowledge.

Now, as the labour market opens to degrees from local universities, all who can afford the prices do everything to solidify their social |status.

And now the market complains about degree holders' inability to perform their jobs and how some turn to local wisdom or knowledge from lay persons who hold no university degrees.

In Thai society, as long as these values do not change, it is guaranteed that degrees for sale will be here for a long, long time.

CHULARAT SAENGPASSA

THE NATION

Chularat@nationgroup.com