Honorary degrees for sale

Honorary degrees for sale

From Kompas

I used to be one of those who didn't believe that honorary degrees could be "purchased". However, recently I received a letter from Lembaga Informasi Fasilitas Indonesia (the Facility Information Body of Indonesia) based in Cimanggis, Depok, saying that as a result of a special meeting involving professors and lecturers from Northern California Global University and Global University International, I was declared qualified to receive any one of the various honorary degrees, which I could pick and choose: BA, BSc, MBA, MSc, MHA, PhD etc.

Never having had any education at either university, the offer came as a real surprise. A bigger surprise was in store as the letter also added that there was to be a graduation ceremony where the degrees would be conferred to not less than 300 "graduates", consisting of government officials, directors, managers, politicians and other members of the public.

To me this is a new trick in the art of fraud, especially in the field of education. So it is that easy, is it, to acquire a degree? Then what will become of the millions of students poring over their books day and night for years to earn an honest degree? What does the education minister have to say about this?

LINA

Tangerang, Banten