Last week, we focused on fake qualifications and how they have become prevalent in the aftermath of the reform wave that hit the public sector largely after 2000.
We used a few examples that would have made for intriguing deliberations. Fast-tracked lawyers who not only lacked articulation skills but were not tutored adequately on court etiquette.
There was discussion on a proliferation of qualifications with very narrow demarcations. It goes without saying that this results from an attempt by providers to make available as many differentiated qualifications as possible.
The market responds to this as expected. This makes it extremely difficult to identify and differentiate between candidates applying for the same job. We also delved into the murkier realm of qualifications for sale.
Here, we mentioned that qualifications had once been made available at a price by enterprising individuals attached to a local tertiary institution. There were reports of investigations and follow-ups in this regard.
We did not want to divulge the name of the institution involved because the culprits were individuals and not the institution itself.
The kingpin in that enterprise was duly dealt with and, in an unrelated incident, met a tragic death in a car accident in Saweni, Lautoka some years later. The institution used at the time is no longer in existence.
Thus, the photo of Fiji Institute of Technology (FIT) Samabula used in that article was not meant to be linked to Fiji National University which already has a sterling image – I am an affiliate of that institution.
Prevalence of fake qualifications
THE case highlighted earlier of qualifications for sale by enterprising individuals attached to a local institution had some very interesting angles. An official connected to local immigration linked up with personnel at the local tertiary institution to produce fake qualifications that were used to support applications for migrating abroad. Advertisement was by word of mouth and reports were that many used this dubious path to lodge applications for migration abroad. This has taken on a new turn these days with ready access to advanced technology that makes it extremely difficult to detect fake or doctored qualifications. A recent case at a local public enterprise (government company) involved a USP graduate with an academic transcript that had been doctored. These transcripts show the grades that students score in the courses taken to attain their qualifications. It helps employers gauge potential recruits beyond their qualifications by showing them just how “good” the candidates were at each of the courses that they took at the institution. The grades indicate the candidates: intelligence, level of mastery of the subject area, level and seriousness of focus on tasks, and general orientation towards hurdles in life. In this case, the transcript showed straight “As” indicating that the candidate was virtually peerless. This deception was not detected at the initial stages and the candidate was hired at a managerial level. The guillotine fell later.
How do fake qualifications pass scrutiny?
There are many instances when fake qualifications pass scrutiny for various reasons. One, the scrutiny process is either lax or compromised. Suspicions have floated around for a long time in the case of a local PhD holder whose qualification is supposed to be from an institution in Britain whose chancellor is none other than King Charles III himself. The verification process involved appeared to have been very well covered later by the perpetrator, but the thesis linked to the qualification raises more questions
than answers. After all, the proof does lie in the pudding. Anyway, I guess on the brighter side we need to be proud of the fact that we in Fiji have direct links to King Charles III through academia. Coming back to why fake qualifications pass scrutiny, a second reason for this is that educational institutions tend to be highly secretive when it comes to dealing with requests for information on individual students. I remember how on my way back from Japan in July 1987, I had to come through Australia because Japan Airlines (JAL) had stopped flights to Fiji after our first coup in May 1987. A very close friend of mine, Jagdish Prasad (Jack), whom I considered a brother was pursuing his MA at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) while I was doing the same in Japan. As I had a few days of stopover in Sydney, I went to look him up at UNSW. They wouldn’t even give me his phone contact and we never met. The reason: that was highly private and privileged information. This is the same kind of response that is received when qualifications are queried from academic institutions about individuals. A third reason why fake qualifications pass scrutiny is that they are doctored so meticulously that they appear like the real thing. It is only when there are slips on facts that the alarm bells start ringing. In the case of the peerless performer from USP cited above, the slip happened with the date of birth. He was hired by the government company as a high achiever with a commensurate compensation package. And life would have been great given that he was highly regarded by management. You see, this dark enterprise of deceit needs the gift of the gab for success and in all of the cases cited above, the individuals involved had/have loads of it. Once they start talking, the web of deceit starts spinning and the end result is beyond doubt. That’s how it works. Some of you asked me for more on the chief operating officer (COO) saga at Fiji Post and Telecom (FPTL) in the mid-1990s, I will get back to it next week. Let’s stop our discussion on fake qualifications here and move on to the recent graduation ceremonies at USP. I want to do this while it is still fresh as it just took place over the past two days.
Academic graduation ceremonies
Graduation ceremonies mark the culmination of years of focused effort by students. There are sacrifices, hardships, losses, gains and the final triumph when students line up to receive their qualification from the distinguished institution of learning while an array of the top brass of the institution plus members of the diplomatic corps, distinguished quests, parents, friends and family look on as participants in the ceremony. For many, this is the pinnacle of their academic endeavours as they go on to join the labour force and forge ahead in life. For others, this marks one in more marches to the podium as they continue to pursue higher and/or wider qualifications. It goes without saying that graduation ceremonies are a very proud and deeply meaningful occasion to all students, their parents/guardians and everyone else linked to them. What is little known and understood is that graduation ceremonies are a hugely proud and fulfilling moment for teachers as well. When I saw a number of my students lining up to make the final momentous walk to the podium on Thursday this week, it is difficult to describe how emotions churned inside me. Few realise that there are many teachers who see their profession (teaching and learning) as a joint endeavour between themselves and their students. There are many teachers who feel a very real sense of failure when their students fail. These are teachers who see their profession as a vocation (a calling). I have gone through many of these in my life and have been heavily influenced by them. We will get back to this topic later as there is so much to be shared on it. I take this opportunity to congratulate all 1697 of our students who graduated this week. One, in particular, has been well covered in the media. Josaia Suqesuqe overcame the hardships of being visually challenged in a manner that can only be marvelled at – he now has a degree in commerce. Dr Jone Lako overcame so many odds and personal challenges to stand on the dais with his PhD. Dr. Rashmini Sharma proved that one can never be too young to pursue the highest of academic qualifications. To each and every one of our graduates: congratulations. USP is proud of you. Go forth and serve. The world is yours and the sky is the limit.
• DR SUBHASH APPANNA is a senior USP academic who has been writing regularly on issues of historical and national significance. The views expressed here are his alone and not necessarily shared by this newspaper or his employers. subhash.appana@usp.ac.fj
