In this day and age, tertiary qualifications such as undergraduate or Master’s degrees are part and parcel of getting yourself a job that you want. In fact, it has become less of an added advantage, and more of a prerequisite now, with most job seekers possessing a minimum of one, if not two undergraduate degrees.
Unfortunately for one man, his hard work and dedication towards achieving an undergraduate degree eventually led to moot after he came to discover that his qualifications were not recognised.
M’sian man shocked to learn that his degree isn’t recognised in Malaysia and Singapore.
Facing some financial difficulties at home, Mr. Teng has shared to local newspaper, Sin Chew Daily that his family couldn’t afford to send him to university, which left him no choice but to look for an alternative solution. Back in 2010, a friend of his recommended that he try signing up for a Johor-based academic institution, where they offered an opportunity for him to work and study at the same time.
Given the fact that the arrangement would allow him to earn a tertiary qualification without spending too much money, he decided to enroll into the course while working under the academic institution. However, after 5 long years of working and studying to attain his professional certificate, he was dismayed to find out that the certificate was not recognised by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency or its Singaporean equivalent.
“I paid over $5,104SGD (RM17,000) for what I thought was an accredited certificate, and I only found out after I was told by a bank that my degree was not recognised”, he recalled.
Source: Sin Chew Daily
Unfortunately, the bank who offered him a job rescinded their offer and he began plunging into depression, to a point where he almost took his own life. Mr. Teng adds he made several calls to the institution that he graduated from in hopes of getting an explanation from them after his job offer was withdrawn, but all they offered no help and even threatened to sue him for defamation.
Seeing that he had no choice, he went over to Singapore and took up work in call-centres and as a security guard, as he was left with only his secondary school certificate. After 8 long years, Mr. Teng, with the encouragement of his friends and family has decided to give his tertiary education a second chance.
Source: Sin Chew Daily
Mr. Teng is now enrolled in a business administration course where he attends classes remotely in a UK- based university. He mentioned that there were some challenges as he was applying for the course but thankfully with years of working experience, he was able to enroll into the course and is set to complete his tertiary education next year.
Following his ordeal, Malaysian Member of Parliament (MP) Jimmy Puah has stated that private institutions are not allowed to issue their own bachelor degrees at their own discretion without approval from MQA. The right is given to proper colleges or universities that are registered.
“These institutions would usually target poverty-stricken families or students who wish to study and work at the same time”, he said.
Source: Sin Chew Daily
Mr. Puah then further advised all secondary students to check the qualifications of the institution they want to enroll in with the Ministry of Higher Education to prevent such instances from happening in the future, while vowing that he would help Mr. Teng escalate this matter to the ministry. A police report has since been filed over the incident.
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