I REFER to Thursday's report, 'Singapore on list of degree mill countries' and would like to quote a remark made by Mr Alan Contreras, administrator for Oregon's Office of Degree Authorisation: 'The problem Singapore has is that it opened the door to private post-secondary education without establishing a serious governmental oversight process to make those providers prove that they are legitimate.'

The issue of degrees of dubious quality offered by private schools in Singapore has been reported widely over the past few years. Despite the potential danger it posed to Singapore's ambition to be an education hub, the authorities have not come down hard enough on this problem and have chosen to take half-hearted measures.

This is a shame but I am glad it happened because now, finally, the authorities will be forced to take action.

Alvin Tan

This article was first published in The Straits Times.