Foreign MBAs in Sri Lanka: The Bad, The Scam, The Ugly
Dilshan Senaratne
Global Head of Talent Marketing & Employer Brand | Corporate Communication, Technology Marketing, Brand Management & PR Leader
As of late, a friend of mine and I have been shopping around for an MBA. I say “shopping,” not by accident, but because that’s how it feels. If you’ve ever in your life hunted down a foreign qualification in Sri Lanka, you must be familiar with the drill. Local institutions now offer something close to 40 MBA programs!
DISCLAIMER:
To be clear and absolutely correct in my articulation – this is in no way a bid to disrepute a targeted educator or bring acclaim to another. At the point of writing, I’m not enrolled in any MBA programme, however, I am nearing completion of a Pre-Master’s programme, whose facilitator has no part in my writing. This is simply discourse of current affairs affecting myself and presumably my peers.
In fact, if I’m mistaken in any way, please do correct me. I will love to believe that this is all a big misunderstanding on my part and not a planned scam to rob anyone who isn’t quite as suspicious of institutions as I am.
UPDATED DISCLAIMER (15/08/2016):
All views expressed in this article are subjective to opinions of myself and others. I urge all readers to carry out their own research, going by the opinions provided here prior to arriving at any conclusions.
To cut the long story short, in my search for an MBA, two particular institutions came with heavy recommendations from friends, family and colleagues. One was an Australian qualification and the other a British one. Both offered by local institutions. Both MBA qualifications from allegedly prestigious foreign institutions.
The first pitches itself this way:
Sound’s great I thought. The only catch is that I have no idea what (EDITED OUT) Magazine is. So, I decided to do a little research. After all, research is a core module of the MBA program I was entertaining entry to.
I’m not going to name names, but if you really need to know, just Google the alleged status of the qualification as shown in the image above. I’m not going to be sued by the hard-earned money that they ripped people off of. Ain’t nobody got time for that shizz. There seems to be only two Australian MBA programs in the country, so it shouldn’t be hard to find.
So to start off with (EDITED OUT) Magazine is the run of the mill publication looking (EDIT) to make some cash. To say your MBA is accredited by the (EDITED OUT) Magazine is the equivalent of saying the qualification is accredited by the Huffington Post. In fact, the Huff actually has more credibility.
To validate education through an (EDIT) unregulated ranking is just pure misdirection of the masses.
I continued my research, even with the fact glaring me in the face and in the process wasted a good amount of hours that I’m never getting back, but here’s the down-low.
No self respecting University ranking in the world even lists the said qualification or its offering body. Forget the top ranking, nobody even includes the qualification on their ranking list.
Here’s the slight catch however, Australian Universities don’t necessarily have a sophisticated, go-to ranking body unlike the UK Colleges. Think Guardian. This obviously is one reason for exploits of the (EDITED OUT) Magazine kind.
I went through the top five results for the search terms – “Australian University Rankings.”
What did I find? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. The damned offering body (University) is not in any listing anywhere.
As a last resort I ended up on two websites. The last straw for “Australia’s No. 01 MBA” to show up on a listing.
Here’s what I got:
(https://find-mba.com/mba-rankings)
and…
(https://www.studyinaustralia.gov.au/)
Yep. Nothing.
Basically, the Australian Government doesn’t seem keen on listing the said University in their list of Universities.
The bottom line here for me is this – If you have to try this hard to find any mention of where your MBA came from, you probably shouldn’t put that on your CV.
To pop the cherry on the icing, here’s a bunch of people who also arrived at my conclusion:
So Australia out of the way. If anyone thinks that’s the worst of it, oh boy, you’re in for a ride with the next one.
So, the second qualification, the British one has even better street cred. Their alumni swear by their status as the best foreign MBA in the country.
So, I went Sherlock on this one as well. Once bitten, twice research right?
The sales pitch for the second offers a prestigious British MBA from an institution claimed to be equivalent in repute to the Oxfords and the Cambridges of the world. Supposedly, the University is the third oldest in the UK or something to that effect.
The curriculum itself is taught by an industry-vetted lecture panel employed by top corporates in the country. Everything checked out convincingly, except one tiny detail – the University is not listed in the Guardian College ranking list nor the Complete University Guide.
Here we go again right?
No actually. This is worse.
So supposedly, the said University (The University of Wales) is a confederation, which translates to the educational equivalent of being a holding company.
So, the University of Wales in the words of Wikipedia (Only because this information is not critical. I promise):
The University of Wales (Welsh: Prifysgol Cymru) was a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales, UK. Founded by Royal Charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first and oldest university in Wales, one of the four countries in the United Kingdom. The university was the second largest university in the UK.
(Wikipedia)
Okay, so fair enough. For the rest of the story, I’ll be citing, the University’s own website for the sake of credibility:
“In October of 2011, the governing bodies of the University of Wales, Swansea Metropolitan University and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David made a commitment to merge under the 1828 Charter of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. The first phase of this process was completed in 2012 with the merger of University of Wales Trinity Saint David and Swansea Metropolitan University, as well as the created of Adduned Cymru -The Wales Pledge. The new university is expected to be fully integrated by 2017.”
( www.wales.ac.uk)
Ok, so here’s my first red flag. According to the proposed merger, the University of Wales may or may not change its name and/or structure. What happens to students who obtain an MBA from a University that in part or whole ceases to exist in its original form subsequent to the year 2017?
If you think about it – the University itself prides itself in its continuity as “the oldest University in Wales,” by definition, the University will no longer be that following its merger right?
The plot thickens. I did a bit of reading to really figure out what brought this restructuring/merger about. Here’s what I found:
(https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-15171830)
(https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/lecturer-examiner-whose-fraud-helped-9626829)
I’m just going to give you a minute to let that sink in.
If anyone responsible for scamming innocent people like this ever reads this, riddle me this: Is it worth it?
Whether you be a lecturer at this place, part of the management, the alumni, investors, staff, facilitators, politician in the know, whoever you may be, if you have a hand in this; is the money really worth this?
An MBA typically costs anywhere between Rs. 500,000/- to 800,000/-
The University of Wales MBA offered here is priced at a steep Rs. 1.2 Million. Coincidentally, the institute is offering a 40% discount on the price. Wonder why.
The average salary of the executive pursuing an MBA is Rs. 30,000/- – Rs. 50,000/-
Do the math:
In a best case scenario, the MBA costs the equivalent of the annual income of a salaried student. A year’s worth of income wasted on a sub-standard qualification whose worth isn’t more than the piece of paper it’s written on.
I won’t blame you if you stop reading now. I think for the decently intellectual, the rest is clear. But, I wasn’t handed these facts in the same order and I went into further investigation.
I went as far as calling the University and inquiring via email. The lady on the phone informed me that the qualification offered in Sri Lanka is an “approved” qualification and not an internal qualification.
Here’s an excerpt of the document I received as a reply for my email inquiry:
Please note two thing. First, they decided as the oldest University in Wales, they are at liberty to err in an official press release. Secondly, the last question and its vague answer tells the full story.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, here’s the quality of University offering the most prestigious British MBA offered in the country. A round of applause.
In the ensuing phone conversation which followed, the University rep went on to say “you need to ask these questions from the institution offering the qualification,” no less than three times. Obviously dodging the questions of the merger, the validity of the local institute and the future of the MBA program.
Great, so Rs. 1.2 Million for a qualification “approved” by a University abolished in relation to an alleged visa scam, which will no longer exist come 2017.
Here’s the icing on the cake. The said institute decidedly published this masterpiece on the Sunday Times a while back:
(https://www.sundaytimes.lk/110724/Education/ed08.html)
Right then.
It’s certainly a sorry state of affairs when reputed institutions rob the public blind for the sake of financial gain and convenience. Shame on the lot of them honestly.
If you are reading this and are in a position to make a change, create awareness or impose regulations, I beg of you, please do. I assure you, the majority of this country is not quite as well researched as I am. This is the reason that both programs I’ve spoken about in this article are fully subscribed for this year’s intakes.
In parting, one piece of advise. Keep your eyes open and question everything.
Cheers!