The Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) wanted a body to be set up to vet and endorse qualifications in order that companies could check the credentials of potential employees whereas there is none at the moment.

The Federation?s executive director Shamsuddin Bardan said that currently, the most employers could do was call up the university in the applicant?s resume to verify authenticity but anyone could answer the call affirming the authenticity. Only a small number of employers conduct really thorough checks. He added that buying of online degrees has been going on for some years and a number of people would have obtained employment by such fake degrees.

The National Accreditation Board (LAN) chief executive Prof Dr Mohd Suleiman commented that the proposal of MEF was a good idea but would be difficult to implement because there are thousands of universities around the world and checks would on legitimacy and accreditation would be difficult.

He added that references like National Recognition Information Centre for Britain could be used to authenticate the qualifications. The centre, popularly known as UK Naric, provides information about academic recognition of qualifications around the world.

The Malaysian-American Commission on Educational Exchange (Macee) advising services co-ordinator Marlene Zefferys advised that employers can call her office (03-2166 8878) for verification. She added that American universities are accredited by one of the six regional accreditation bodies in USA. They are the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA), North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA), New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities.

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