Fake degrees: Axact is just tip of the iceberg

Ever since Internet became a sort of dream platform to sell fantasies, everyone has realized his or her share of ambition varying in scales. While some have made a fortune working hard through ideas and innovation, there are the others who have had it easy; albeit using the shortcuts and creating shams.

With the recent investigation into Pakistani company Axact, which claims to be a software company at its very core; New York Times has exposed a racket of fake degrees and certificate courses that were doled out to millions of candidates more like free candies given away to kids at a village fair.

Axact is a destination for many things fake. It is a diploma mill of websites engaging some really smart people into paying up ridiculous sums of money using boiler-room technique. But for those who are unaware, Axact may be a soiled name in the US now, whereas in Pakistan it is a name to reckon by.

In more ways than one, Axact speaks a lot through its own story. It speaks of the aspirations of today’s Pakistan which was left behind in raking the moolah of the surging world of Internet. It could be an irony of times that Pakistan’s immediate neighbor India has turned into a leader of sorts in the world of software and technology.

But, does that leave India clean of the fake degrees issue? The answer is a resounding ‘no’ to the extent of being guilty. India with its surging population, poverty, rapid land acquisition for industrialization, reduced emphasis on skill based livelihoods and agriculture, has become a land of opportunities only for those with higher education. The great Indian middle class thrives on education, and has rightly believed so in the power of education which can transform the lives of people who can access it and possess it.

As a result, probably a first generation graduate finds himself in increasingly pressurizing environment, which does not leave him without any alternative to carving out a career for self by way of acquiring degrees, original or fake. Because, the basic requirement for a job starts with the qualification and not the aptitude of the candidate.

Just recently, a premier institute was told to abstain from publishing ads that claim its authenticity since the organization was not approved by the agency that accredits such educational institutes. Though this is not so much about ‘fake’ degrees, the fate of students who passed out from this institute remains the same as of those who took fake certificates at a premium value. Talk about ambitions gone awry!

Reasons for this are many. The global world is also an equal opportunity employer for want of qualified candidates. And qualified candidates in third-world countries means affordable labour.

Interest in online education is booming and this is exactly what Axact leveraged on. The company has suave websites that can be easily navigated. A physical office is never a prerequisite for such ventures, and potential students are taken completely by how the website looks and what it claims. Is there a way to verify the claims that such websites make? Of course, there should be a contact number which is possibly linked to a 24/7 helpline.

To make the claims sound genuine, they have numerous well-known names on their sites that add ‘authenticity’ to the degree-churning institute. Guess what, one of such websites created by Axact even had US politician John Kerry’s name on it! And as you would know, it could not have been possible to verify if Kerry was really associated or not. Much like celebrity testimonials. But then, the name did the trick of attracting scores of students who paid humungous amounts of money, sometimes the amount even bordering on obscenity when it came to the cost, and obtained stylishly written and printed degrees. After the racket was busted, and Axact’s credentials being questioned, those certificates are much like counterfeit currency notes. They invoke fear and also hopelessness in alternate phases. They are nothing more than fancy pieces of paper.

What about those numbers listed at the bottom of the certificate doling websites which claimed to be associated with international universities? When students called to find out more about the course details, they assumed they were speaking to their professors or those who were credible with their knowledge. In reality, they were speaking to sales and marketing professionals of Axact sitting in their Karachi office!

Axact CEO Shoaib Ahmed Shaikh, who had a steady success is a fallen man today. But, he isn’t taking it lying down. He is putting up a tough fight, and has even had one of the internationally reputed publication remove the news claiming they jumped the gun.
The racket is bigger than one can even begin to understand. And, by what one can understand, this is not just about selling degree certificates. A country torn at the core owing to terrorism, democracy hanging by a fine thread; Pakistan is much more than a country that desperately wants better future. If Axact can relay that message to its fortune changers, it would be doing more than its share of work.

(Image credits: propakistani.pk)