Sunday, July 2, 2017

Honorary doctorate (PhD) Scam in Sri Lanka!


by Our Correspondent in Colombo- 
(July 2, 2017, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Some of the university officials in Sri Lanka have been engaging in highly damaging scam for awarding honorary doctorate to corrupted, inappropriate, unsuitable, undesirable, unfit, and incapable candidate driven by personal advantages, reliable sources in the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the University insiders particularly at the University of Peradeniya have revealed.
Senior staff members of some of the universities along with their external associates are scheming to award such corrupted crooks with honorary doctorate so then they can become beneficiaries of the promises made by the candidate such as foreign trips and financial assistances.
“This sort of manipulative activities are likely to seriously damage the status quo of the university and then we will lose the educational reputation of the institutions”, a reliable source in the University Grants Commission told the Sri Lanka Guardian.
There were series of incidents reported where some highly corrupted local and regional Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), as well as some of the individuals, were urging to nominate them for honorary doctorates by the universities through some of the senior staffs by promising them for various beneficiaries. If this modus operandi is successful, it will not only damage the reputation of the university but also is likely to decrease the respect of entire education system in Sri Lanka.
“ There is no doubt that of our Universities have the authority to award an Honorary Doctorate to a person who has made exceptional or reasonably valued contribution to the subject that he or she is involved in. But, the most important aspect must concern the reputation the person has earned and how he or she has achieved the available achievements. We believe all universities and other relevant authorities must establish the serious screening system to cross check the candidate’s claim independently”, a reliable source at the University of Peradeniya said.
Compared with other universities in the region, the universities in Sri Lanka are still maintaining high standards and they have taken all precautions to protect the code of ethics to maintain the reputation earned by others in the past.
However, it is indeed sad to learn that some of the bugs in the universities are trying to destroy the dignity and are tarnishing the image by engaging in such activities.
We urge vice chancellors and higher officials at the UGC to take immediate action to monitor, evaluate and prevent such unethical and awkward schemes involved in, by certain parties in the university system in Sri Lanka, before it causes damage the country.