The minister has wanted to deal with the deception concerning the name ‘university’ for a while now, and wants the term to be protected under the law. Before it approves the needed legislative change, the Upper House first wants to know if dealing with the fake universities is even necessary. But Bussemaker is firm in this regard. ‘This is probably just the tip of the iceberg’, she writes.
The Education Inspectorate has received several dozen complaints from students who did not receive the diplomas they were told they would, because the institutions they had studied at were not qualified to give out certified diplomas. But the actual number of victims is probably much higher, the minister thinks.
‘We must prevent not just the deception perpetrated upon Dutch students and employers’, says Bussemaker. ‘But also the deception perpetrated upon foreign students and employers.’
Fines
The current legislation has no provision that addresses with fake research universities and universities of applied science. The new rules would make it possible to impose hefty fines.
‘It is very important to prevent these misled students from suffering financial disadvantages, just as we must prevent the loss of time and energy, especially when these students finish years of studying only to not receive an “official” diploma’, she writes to the Upper House.
Three years ago, the Al Huraa ‘university’ in The Hague was in the news for giving students bachelor’s and master’s degrees without actually being qualified to do so. The diplomas turned out to be invalid.