Fake degrees have already begun to filter into Malaysia, largely as a result of the Internet and foreign e-learning universities (i.e. online universities), and the Higher Education Ministry has apparently been monitoring the situation for quite some time. Recently, the Ministry announced that it would be collaborating further with the British-based National Academic Recitations Information Centre (NARIC) to control the authenticity of degrees.

But in my humble opinion, fake degrees are only a symptom of the true problem, as the real problem is with the National Accreditation Board (NAB). Yes, the Higher Education Ministry has finally asked the Board to “…strengthen its links with its foreign counterparts to overcome this problem…”, but will we see overall improvements in the long run? Or will this “plea” by the Ministry merely result in a “magic bullet” for the current problem, and a slew of other symptoms a few years down the road?

Already, there are still graduates from overseas universities that are having problems with getting their proper degrees accredited. If something as simple as getting overseas degrees checked for accreditation can’t be done properly, can we reasonably expect problems with online universities, e.g. fake degrees, to be solved? After all, even the United States still faces substantial problems with online universities, and the authenticity and value of the degrees issued by those universities.