Chủ Nhật, 16 tháng 6, 2013

Raffles Colombo Misleading Students!

By Nirmala Kannangara


Accusations have been levelled against a higher education institute in Colombo for misleading students to get them to sign up for courses at its design school. Raffles Colombo (registered as Raffles Design Institute Pvt. Ltd), based in Singapore, is an education provider in Sri Lanka specializing in Art Design.


Although they claim to have Higher Education Ministry recognition for their diploma to inquiring students and parents, it has now come to light that it is not factually correct, but only to attract more students to follow their courses.


Since there is a growing tendency amongst school levers to follow higher studies in higher education institutes that are affiliated to foreign universities in order to qualify for permanent resident status in foreign countries, the trend to enroll at higher education institutes that offer tailor made courses for the overseas job market is rapidly increasing. As a result, many higher education institutes are mushrooming in Colombo and other main cities in the country. The danger however, is that the degrees issued by many of these institutions may not be recognized internationally, thereby destroying the hopes of the student and the investment made.


Raffles has been offering courses in Fashion Designing, Interior Designing, Graphic Designing, Multimedia Designing and Fashion Marketing and Management over the past three years in Sri Lanka.


Although Raffles claims that they are a reputed organization with 30 years in the field and is the largest private education provider in the Asia Pacific region, questions have been raised on the certification issued to students on completion of the programmes as any diploma or degree awarding institution in Sri Lanka should be registered with the Higher Education Ministry or the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Although the requirement is such, it is learnt that the institution has only been registered with the Board of Investment (BOI) as a business venture sans any degree awarding status conferred either by the UGC or by the Higher Education Ministry.


What is in fact on offer are basic vocational skills development short courses as they have not been conferred university status by any country in the world.  Raffles is not listed on the UGC’s ‘Recognized Foreign University ’ list, nor are they ranked or to be found in any credible popular global university ranking system.


The question therefore arises as to whether any due diligence is carried out prior to granting approval for such institutions to set up operations in Sri Lanka and the government institution responsible for carrying out such due diligence, in this case whether it is the BOI, the Higher Education Ministry or the UGC.


For, in the end, it is the Sri Lankan student, who cannot gain entry to the mainstream university system in the country, that is likely to fall prey to these dubious foreign institutions that are solely profit motivated.


At present there are a number of so-called degrees being offered by various institutes in Sri Lanka.  This has created confusion amongst students and parents alike, as to whom to believe and what to choose.


Most institutes offer what is known as a two-step programme, where the first step is the completion of an Advance/Higher Diploma, which usually is a two-year course.  This Advanced/Higher Diplomas are normally offered by Higher Education accreditation such as EdExcel UK or TAFE in Australia. After obtaining the Advance/Higher Diploma, students are enrolled onto a ‘top up’ final year offered by a recognized University.  While these pathways provide an opportunity for a student to obtain a university degree, there is still some relaxation of standards that can occur from institute to institute.


Raffles refer to themselves as a Singaporean Higher Education Provider.  They trade as the Raffles College of Higher Education and part of the Raffles Education Corporation.  It claims to the biggest private education provider in Asia with 38 colleges in 35 cities across 14 countries (including Sri Lanka) with a claim to having a student body of 33,000.  However it was found that more than 90% of these students were not undergraduate level students, but studying for basic vocational skills.


Sometime ago, Raffles purchased the KvB Institute in Sydney that had approval for a state level ‘College Degree’ (not a National Level University Degree) and re-branded it as Raffles College of Design Commerce and it is this ‘college degree’ that is now being marketed as an internationally accepted ‘degree’ qualification.  The ‘Raffles degree’ is not listed nor recognized by any reputed university.


It is also learnt that to bring credibility to what Raffles does, the Raffles Education Corporation has created the so-called Raffles University System.  Registered in the well known tax haven of Guernsey, an independent crown colony of the UK (which does not come under UK law or EU law), Raffles University System acts as the moderator for the qualifications awarded by them.


“This is a highly dubious position, where the international norms are that the moderator is an independent body to the university or institute that offer a degree (like the Quality Assurance Authority in the UK or the UGC in Sri Lanka). This form of ‘Internal Verification’ would allow such an institute to maintain poor standards and run a substandard curriculum, thereby offering a second rate yet a glossy sounding qualification.


Although from outside Raffles qualifications look nice and shiny, there is a question about its certificate’s recognition. In 2010 Raffles were banned by the Thailand government for offering Raffles College of Design and Commerce degree in Thailand, which is not a recognized degree. However they were allowed only to conduct their Raffles College of Higher Education advanced diploma programme,” said an Educationist on condition of anonymity.


According to him Raffles was banned in Vietnam as well and was fined for offering a degree, which is not recognized in that country.


“The Raffles degree is not recognized by the Australian National Government. It is however recognized by the New South Wales State Government as a state level degree. In Singapore, the so called degree offered by Raffles College of Design and Commerce has only a provisional approval subject to annual review by the Singapore Council for Private Education, as they are not a recognized degree,” he further added.

However Vice President Academic, Raffles Institute of Higher Education Colombo, Prof. Krzysztof Gluc said that the institute does not offer a degree in Sri Lanka but only an advanced diploma.


“We are in the process of getting the degree awarding status. Till we are allowed to offer a degree, we are offering advanced diploma which is a three-year programme. Those who finish the advanced diploma programme can go to Singapore to continue the degree programme,” said Gluc.

According to Gluc, the education system Raffles offers is the British system and their diploma is accredited in Australia.


“We want to build a university in Sri Lanka and have earmarked a 25-acre land in Negombo. Once we get the degree awarding status from the Higher Education Ministry we will pursue constructing the proposed university,” added Gluc.


He further noted that Raffles will start a one-year programme in designing for O/L students from July and in October to start a Bachelor’s Programme in designing which is accredited to Raffles Australia. He further said that plans are afoot to start a programme Bachelor of Business Administration in Hospitality and Tourism at the earliest.


“Our first graduation ceremony was held in March and 16 students graduated. Out of them three students went to Singapore to do their Bachelors Degree and the rest are working here. We have already submitted our application for the degree awarding status and Higher Education Ministry officials visited us a few days ago and they were happy with the details given,” said Gluc.

According to Gluc, Raffle students have gone to New South Wales University (Postgraduate Program), Parsons  (Postgraduate Program), Birmingham University  (Postgraduate Program), and Northumbria University ( Postgraduate Program).


“Our main goal has always been promoting the Australian Degree. Our goal for the future with Sri Lanka is being the First Foreign University to deliver a degree both recognized by the Australian government as well as the Sri Lankan government pending Higher Education Ministry and UGC approval. We don’t take shortcuts as a company of stature,” he added.


When questioned as to why Raffles was banned in Vietnam and Thailand, Gluc said that it was due to an education policy adopted in Vietnam.

“We had a solid footing in Vietnam for over five years before the government changed the education policies. This, as you know, is a very common situation in developing countries. More than 20 other private education providers were affected by same and this could be covered by proper research into the subject. The decision to move out of Vietnam has been a company decision based on financial viability. When the government changed the policies the changes were too extreme and it didn’t prove to be financially savvy. As such 90% of the students were transferred to our other schools within the Raffles Network and the remaining 10% of students who didn’t wish to transfer were given a 100% refund for their respective programs.


“In regard to Thailand we have decided to work with the government in this case embracing whatever changes in regulations made. If we are not recognized how come we are allowed to build a full scale university in Bognan. This includes housing, shopping malls to many more other facilities within the City Campus. This is a 35-million-dollar project happening in the country,” said Gluc.


When contacted, Additional Secretary, Higher Education Ministry, Douglas Nanayakkara said that they have received an application from Raffles Colombo and is now in the process of evaluating it.


“By now they have submitted a complete application for degree awarding status. Please ask the Ministry Secretary for more information as we are not supposed to divulge details to the media,” said Nanayakkara.


The issue however remains that students need to be protected from falling victim to institutions offering dubious certificates, and the authorities must look at the matter not only from an investment perspective, but more importantly, from the students’ perspective.




Raffles Colombo Misleading Students!

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