I READ the reports on the bogus degrees offered by Brookes Business School and Stamford Global Learning Centre with great apprehension.

Both schools were registered with theMinistry of Education (MOE) and accredited by CaseTrust.

Mr Benny Yap Chee Mun, who ran both schools, made many comments - as did MOE and the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) - on which party should be held responsible for ensuring that genuine qualifications were being offered.

Here are my suggestions for solving the matter:

All learning institutions which issue qualifications must be registered with MOE or CaseTrust.

The requirements for registration should be as follows:

Besides going through the standard process with the Accounting & Corporate Regulatory Authority Singapore and applying for insurance, the institutions should be required to produce original letters from the affiliated school that is issuing the certificate.

The letter should also state clearly that the institution has been appointed by the affiliated school to conduct classes in its name.

The letter must state the duration of the appointments and what the courses are.

MOE or Case should then contact the institution to receive a copy of the letter from the affiliated school. It should also be published on the institutions' websites.

Upon confirmation of the letter's legitimacy, MOE or Case could then publish it on their websites so that prospective students could do the requisite checks before enrolling at the institution.

The institution would then be issued with a licence. With access to the Internet, anyone looking to further their education could carry out research on educational institutions with a few clicks of the mouse.

However, most prospective students judge schools on whether they are registered with MOE or accredited by CaseTrust.

The suggestions I listed above do not require much resources to implement.

I hope the authorities would be able to consider them.

Mr Victor Ong

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