 "We have to ensure that educational institutions are made more honest: Prashant Bhushan")
Why are fake degree cases so rampant in India? How easy is it to get such degrees?
The state of affairs that have been revealed with these recent incidents is proof of how rampant these fake degrees really are. Here is a situation where such prominent people have risen to high political posts based on fake degrees. Things can only be much worse at lower levels of education and employment. There seems to be an organised racket of manufacturing and selling fake degrees, which has made the phenomenon fairly common.
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There are all sorts and levels of cheating in competitive examinations, too. In certain recent cases that have come to light, exam takers have clicked photographs of question papers and sent it to experts. Added to such ease of cheating, bogus colleges and educational institutions are sprouting up because regulatory authorities such as the Medical Council of India (MCI) and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) are not doing their job properly.
Have cases of cheating and fake degrees increased in the past few years? Why is that?
You only need to read the news these days to know that such cases are on the rise. It appears that technology and the easy access to it are adding to this problem. It's incredibly easy to find someone adept at Photoshop to create fake documents. The second reason for the rise in the number of cases is the proliferation of universities, as a result of which getting fake degrees has become that much easier. Many dishonest colleges will offer you a degree and diploma at a certain price, but this cannot be a measure of academic excellence or qualification.
What can be done to contain these cases? Is it a problem of reform or of implementation of laws?
I think we have the required legal framework to address this issue. This is, in fact, a problem of finding ways and means of verifying these degrees and documents. The onus for such verification lies on the authorities and institutions that accept the documents. Another way could be for the degree-granting institutes to put out relevant documents on the Internet. A greater level of transparency can go a long way in solving this issue.
Are there particular industries or sectors where fake degree and cheating cases are more common than in others?
In my understanding, these cases are most common in places where degrees are required for getting jobs. This would be particularly true for professional educational courses, especially law, engineering and medical qualifications. One cannot do away with degrees and qualifications but we need to keep a closer eye on the quality of institutions that are coming up.
This issue has plagued even the highest echelons of political power. Why is that?
The political class can eliminate such issues by having proper internal lokpals and mechanisms to weed out corruption. But this class is controlled by the same crooks who run these education frauds. Politicians grant these crooks licences for their own political gains. Entire political parties have become dependent on such corrupt systems to survive.
We have to ensure that educational institutions and governing authorities are made more honest. MCI and AICTE need more teeth so that they only grant permissions to honest, quality institutions. Every government till date has been guilty of destroying regulatory bodies. There is a great degree of negligence and we need to ensure that this stops now. But unfortunately, no one seems to be bothered about the state of educational institutions and the corruption within. Regulatory bodies have been mere skeletons, with no real power to effect any change.