Ethical advertising by education providers viewed

Dr Phil Grant, Dr Azhhar Karami and Mike Reed of the University of Wales (UOW) were in Sri Lanka recently at the Imperial Institute of Higher Education on one of their bi annual visits to participate in Examination Boards and to monitor the processes at the Institution.

This continuous monitoring process is a requirement for Institutions validated by UOW. Validated degrees assure a standard equivalent to those Degrees of the parent University.

Mike Reed, confirmed that Imperial Institute of Higher Education is the validated Institution in Sri Lanka offering Management and Computing Degrees of the UOW. He mentioned that the Law College, too was validated to offer a Master Degree in Law. He assured that besides these two institutions no other institution in Sri Lanka had the legal authority to claim association with the University of Wales.

CEO and Academic Director of Imperial Institute of Higher Education Dr Thilaka Weerakoon, joining the discussion emphasised the importance of ethical advertising by education providers.

He said that private tertiary education provision has become a big money making business. But their advertisements were not very explicit about the programmes institutions were offering.

He said many institutions were offering short cuts to Undergraduate and Post Graduate qualifications.

He emphasised that a certificate which is backed, with strict admission requirements, internationally recognised in class contact hours, assessment systems carried out under examination conditions, teaching faculty that is approved by the parent University are basic prerequisites to a quality Degree.

Discriminating, employers too are conscious of this and will recognise only such degrees. If knowledge and skills are what the potential students are paying for then they should ensure that the programmes they are enrolling on are quality assured.

When asked to classify the differences between Internal, External, Distance learning and franchised degrees the Wales representatives all agreed that Internal Degrees were what provided the best teaching learning environment.

Internal Degrees required students to attend lectures at the parent University or its Validated Institutions. Internal Degrees ensured that the appropriate in class contact hours were balanced with the self learning hours for each of the Modules.

A right balance of continuous assessment and end of semester examinations ensured that students had acquired the knowledge and skills which a certificate holder should have. The reputation of the University awarding the internal degrees was a guarantee to the students and employees of the value of such a qualification.

External Degrees do not require students to study at the parent University or its other campuses. They could attend independent institutions which prepare them to sit the examinations of the Parent University. However, it was not required for institutions, preparing students, to be validated. There are also no controls on, in class contact hours or the teaching faculty.

In distance learning there may be no contact hours in class room environments at all and students are even more distant from the parent institutions. Programmes of study which are delivered without any changes to the content of Parent University programmes, irrespective of contextual and cultural differences in the consumer market are called franchised. Validated programmes on the other hand are designed to accommodate local contexts whilst maintaining an international flavour.

The UOW representatives, therefore, reiterated the value of Internal Validated degrees. They confirmed that the association with Imperial Institute since 1996 has been growing and that in the next couple of years further developments are expected to take place which will enable Sri Lankan students to have access to more choice of study Programmes.

The final advise to potential students is do not take newspaper or other advertisement material on face value. Clarify from parent universities or the local High Commissioner about claims made in respective advertisement. The acid test should be to surf the internet and to assure yourself that the local institution name is in the web page of parent University.