Tag: degree mills

More Checks On Firms Hiring Foreign PMEs Among Measures To Support Singapore Workers

A slew of measures to enhance support for local Professionals, Managers and Executives (PMEs) was announced by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) on Wednesday (Jul 8), as part of ongoing efforts to “strengthen the Singaporean core”. The measures do not apply to Singapore PRs.

MORE SCRUTINY OF FIRMS

Starting Oct 1, firms will be required to publish the salary range of job vacancies they post in the Jobs Bank to comply with the Fair Consideration Framework’s advertising requirement.

From October as well, Employers who apply for Employment Passes (EP) where the job advertisement did not state a salary range will have their applications rejected, MOM said.

The ministry said it will also step up its scrutiny of EP applications for selected firms which have a “weaker Singaporean core” of PMEs relative to others in their industry. These employers will be required to submit more information to check whether Singaporeans were considered fairly, MOM said.

About 150 firms from industries such as IT, finance and services are currently on a watchlist Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say said, with more firms expected to be under additional scrutiny. The watchlist includes firms which have received complaints of discriminatory hiring practices.

“With this closer scrutiny, it will take longer, they will have to answer more questions, and the outcome is, they are more likely to face greater difficulties to get their EPs approved,” said Mr Lim.

However, the minister admitted that for some sectors, there are just not enough skilled Singaporean professionals. For this, the ministry is working on a plan to bring skilled foreigners in, and then for the knowledge to be transferred to the local workforce.

“We work with the economic agencies and say: ‘Okay what can we do, under SkillsFuture, to strengthen the supply’,” he said. “In some sectors, where things are moving very fast, we have to look at the skills development, in the short term, we are prepared to live with a weaker (Singaporean) core but there must still be efforts to transfer the knowhow to strengthen the Singaporean core.”

WAGE SUPPORT FOR MATURE PMES

Under a two-year pilot scheme, employers who employ mature PMEs who have been out of work for at least six months, in mid-level jobs that pay at least S$4,000, will receive wage support. The tiered subsidies will cover up to 40 per cent of the employee’s gross monthly salary, with a subsidy cap of S$2,800 a month.

Named the Career Support Programme, the scheme aims to encourage employers to tap on the wealth of experience that mature Singaporean PMEs can bring to the workplace, MOM said.

PMEs who register with the Workforce Development Agency’s Career Centres and e2i will be eligible for the programme, which will also be launched on Oct 1.

REFINING WORK PASS CONTROLS

With immediate effect, the authorities will reject work pass applications that contain “doubtful” qualifications such as those from degree mills. This is to ensure that foreign PMEs are of a “suitable quality and experience”, MOM said.

“‘Doubtful’ means I don’t really know: Did you study for your degree?” Mr Lim said. “Maybe the institute just asked you to pay for your degree, and pretended to conduct the lesson. You pretend to study, and at the end of the day, you all pretend that you graduated. That to us is doubtful.”

DISPUTE RESOLUTION EXPANDED

From the first quarter of next year, dispute resolution for local PMEs will be stepped up with the establishment of the Employment Claims Tribunal (ECT). PMEs who earn more than S$4,500 a month and are not covered by the Employment Act will then have an avenue to resolve statutory and contractual salary-related disputes, the ministry said.

In addition, the tripartite partners have agreed to enhance coverage under the Tripartite Mediation Framework to cover re-employment and employment statutory issues, remove the salary cap of S$4,500 to cover all PME union members and to include rank-and-file union members in non-unionised companies.

NTUC ‘HEARTENED’ BY ANNOUNCEMENT

The National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) said it welcomes MOM’s enhanced support for Singaporean PMEs, and added it was “heartened” to see its recommendations and feedback reflected in the announcement.

For instance, it had suggested that a salary range be published on the National Jobs Bank, the removal of a salary ceiling for tripartite mediation, as well as more support for mature PMEs – all of which were implemented by MOM.

“We look forward to working closely with the tripartite partners to reach out to more workers who require the necessary assistance, and for the changes to have a positive impact on Singaporean PMEs,” said Mr Patrick Tay, assistant secretary-general of the Labour Movement.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

July 9, 2015
Lim Swee Say: Degree Mills Are Fine So Long As Individuals Meet Salary And Experience Criteria

New Manpower Minister Lim Swee Say on Monday wrote an entry in his blog to explain how the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) treats forged degrees and those from degree mills in Employment Pass and S Pass applications.

His explanation included an infographic (see below) and the potential penalty for providing forged degrees.

Those who provide fraudulent educational documents will be barred for life from working in Singapore.

Those with degrees from an unaccredited institution, will be assessed based on their experience and salary criteria.

His blog post came after Non-Constituency MP Gerald Giam had submitted a Parliamentary Question on Monday about the checks that are done when processing S Pass and Employment Pass applications.

Mr Lim provided a similar answer, and said that to detect forged qualifications, his ministry conducts internal database checks, as well as external checks through third-party screening agencies, direct verifications with the issuing institutions, and by requiring the employer to show proof that they have verified that the submitted qualifications are genuine.

He added that employers have a primary responsibility to ensure the authenticity and quality of the academic qualifications of the foreigners they wish to hire.

Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

May 12, 2015
Degree Mills And Fake Qualifications: The Cesspool Of Meritocracy
Here is what an executive of a dodgy institution said as revealed by a 2012 Washington Post news article on Indian higher learning (http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/indias-university-system-in-deep-crisis/2012/03/20/gIQAzUOgdS_story.html)

“We guarantee 100 percent success. No matter what, we will place a business management degree in your hand from a reputed university that we are affiliated to. You can go abroad, apply for jobs with these degrees. The certificate will not even say the words ‘distance education,’”

It looks like the “abroad” of choice may well be Singapore given the ease with which foreigners get jobs and citizenships with qualifications from degree mills or fake qualifications. And the scale of the problem? Here goes

A government commission listed 21 “fake” universities, many no more than a mailing address, a sign over a shop or a hole-in-the-wall office.

A technical institutions regulator named 340 private institutions without accreditation from the government

Of more than 31,000 higher education institution, only 4,532 universities and colleges had accreditation.

One state-run university awarded 2,660 doctor degrees in just 2 years for subjects not taught there.

That is just India.

What Meritocracy?

The government emphasise meritocracy as the cornerstone of its success. Merit must also be paid, as the narrative goes and hence a veritable gravy train for the ministers and the civil service. Never mind the moral hazard of this peculiar line of reasoning but do they merit that gravy train?

The sordid affair of the IDA need not be repeated here. However can the IDA managers think of nothing but utterly inane reasons for their actions to sop off the public, only to flip-flop later? What about the ICA giving away citizenships without, it appears, minimum due diligence?

These acts are not of those civil servants elsewhere commonly underpaid but of the best remunerated civil service in the world. High pay for merit?

Excellence, Competence, Reliability

Another line of reasoning is none of these are due to the agencies but of an imperative to deliver workers indiscriminately to feed the strategy of growing the economy far beyond what can reasonably be expected given constraints of land, population and not least high income.

However, Singapore’s place in the sun can be attributed to its “brand” of excellence, competence and reliability. It can be argued that meritocracy played a strong role at least when it really meant what it meant, not what it is today. Maintaining the brand require a quality labour force but the indiscriminate employment of foreign workers without proper diligence on skills, qualification and suitability can only adulterate quality and tarnish the brand.
It will eventually risk the economy for the government is striving for first world status not by the pursuit of the required diligence but by relying much on third world quality of labour and work attitudes. As a retired German engineer, a frequent visitor told the writer as he saw it

“Ja, what can you expect (regarding train breakdowns)? You have first world infrastructure maintained by so many third world workers.”

A fundamental contradiction apparent to everyone but government it seems. Does productivity needs mentioning?

Conclusion

In 2014, the US state of California convicted Juan Malaluan Tenorio, Jr, Glyn Cordova Villegas, James Quijano Leoncio, Philip Tolentino Sarmiento, Laurence Viernes, German Zagada and Jude Dagza Leoncio up to 3 years imprisonment. All 7 were found guilty of using forged nursing school transcripts from the Philippines to become Registered Nurses.

Draconian it may be but lives were in harm’s way. However, at a minimum, citizenship / PR approvals and various employment passes needs to be rigourously reviewed even if it cost tens of millions. That is a small price to pay to maintain not only the integrity and reputation of the Singapore economy and its institutions but also the quality of the labour force. The whole process including those who employed foreigners must be subject to closer scrutiny.

The apologists may argue there is a difference between qualifications from degree mills and fake qualifications but this is mere semantic of irrelevance to Singaporeans displaced by foreigners of dodgy qualifications. It is worth remembering that in the past overseas degrees from many well known universities were regarded as somehow second class. When there is easy acceptance of getting ahead not by merit nor excellence but by cheating and obfuscation, then meritocracy has plunged into the cesspool of degeneracy.

Besides, can anyone imagine the CEO of a famous brand like Daimler Benz ever risk tarnishing the brand by going…….. cheap?

Chris K

*Chris is a retired executive director in the financial industry who had mostly worked in London and Tokyo. He writes opinions and commentaries mostly on economic and financial matters.

Source: www.therealsingapore.com
April 23, 2015