MOE cancels registration of Brookes Business
School
SINGAPORE: Singapore’s Education Ministry (MOE) has
cancelled the registration of a private school that has been
investigated for offering fake degrees from a well—known Australian
university.
It is the first case this year of a school being stripped of its
registration by the ministry.
MOE said this follows investigations by the secretariat of the
pro—tem Council for Private Education (CPE) on Brookes Business
School for contraventions of the Education Act.
The school has been accused by its students of peddling fake
degrees from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology for as
little as S$12,000.
MOE told Channel NewsAsia some 400 local and overseas students
are affected by the closure. Some have already paid more than
S$10,000 in deposits.
Most of the students whom Channel NewsAsia spoke to refused to
appear on camera, but several of them said they already had doubts
over the school’s credibility.
Jonathan Ong, student at Brookes Business School, said: "I’m not
surprised. Ever since I signed up with this school, there’ve been a
lot of changes to their policies and the programme structures."
This is despite the fact that the school was registered with MOE
and had Casetrust accreditation from the Consumers Association of
Singapore (CASE).
Casetrust—endorsed schools receive certification for having good
student welfare/protection practices and standards, such as clear
fee policies, well—defined student redress practices and systems, a
declared commitment to quality, and well—trained personnel.
According to CASE’s website, the certification does not
represent endorsement or accreditation of the quality of the
courses offered.
Thevanathan Pillay, assistant director, CASE, said: "For those
students who have completed their course and feel they’ve been
given a fake certificate, they should actually go to court and sue
the business."
MOE said the secretariat of the pro—tem CPE is working with
various agencies and private education industry players to put in
place measures to ensure that affected students have other avenues
to complete their studies.
Students may approach the Association of Private Schools and
Colleges (APSC) to be placed in another private education
institution. For this purpose, students should be prepared to show
proof that they are currently enrolled students of Brookes Business
School.
They should also bring along the following documents:
i) student contracts;
ii) payment receipts;
iii) course schedules and assignments completed;
iv) any past tests scripts and results.
The APSC helpline is 6252—3192 or 6252—6134.
MOE said prior to approaching APSC, international students
holding student passes issued by the Immigration and Checkpoints
Authority (ICA) should first approach CASE to get advice on fee
returns under the Student Protection Scheme.
CASE’s helpline is 6463—1811. Students may also contact pro—tem
CPE via the MOE Customer Service at [email protected] or
6872—2220.
— CNA/so
