The Hindu Business Line : Overseas education: Beware of frauds

THE craze for a foreign degree seems to be growing with more than 60,000 students leaving the country annually to study in universities abroad. Along with the exodus of students, a large number of consultants, advisors, agents and facilitators have sprung up to guide and sometimes bamboozle students through the maze of documentation and tests for admission.

There are as many frauds as there are genuine ones in this business, says Dr C.B. Paul Chellakumar, Group Chairman, Campus Abroad, a student consultancy, and President of the newly-formed Association for Accredited Advisors on Overseas Education. This association is a self-regulatory body and hopes to ensure that the services provided by its members are in accordance with the "Code of Ethics."

Dr Chellakumar said that the advisors play a vital role in helping students to decide on the school they want to attend, and also the right courses. He said that most of the Indian students who aspired to study abroad were not aware of some of the ground realities there. For instance, in many countries students are permitted to work for 20 hours. However, Dr Chellakumar feels that students would be better off if they studied during this time and achieved better scores.

Later, their chance of getting jobs was higher, he said.

The ones who fall prey to these unethical `agents' are mainly from villages and those who have not done their homework well.

It is important not just to scan the Internet but also to talk to old students and find out details about the college one is interested in, he said.

Agents who make tall promises and fail to deliver have cheated a number of students. For instance, there are agents who promise to get `free' visas for students.

This is not possible as the issuance of the visa is entirely in the hands of the visa officer at the particular consulate, he said.

Another fraud that has crept into this business is that the agents provide students with substitute pass books, fake income tax returns, bank statements, fixed deposit receipts and anything else that is required for admission in these universities.

This is available for a price in any of the major metros. The end result is that even genuine students are fooled. In a number of cases, the fraud is detected and the visas are rejected, he said.

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