WESTERN BUREAU:

Executive Director of the University Council of Jamaica (UCJ), Dr. Ethley D. London, is warning persons seeking higher education to beware of "degree mills" that are not accredited institutions of learning.

"Diploma/degree mills are dubious providers of education that offer certificates, diplomas and degrees that are considered bogus and of questionable quality," she said.

She continued that "identifying diploma mills is not easy as a number of (these institutions) have similar names to familiar higher-education institutions, for example a popular one is 'Oxford International University'."

Not all recognised

The guest speaker at the inaugural graduation ceremony for the Montego Bay Community College's (MBCC) first batch of bachelor's degree students, Dr. London commended the graduands on their success.

She also cautioned those seeking further education, especially those who will work and study to be careful of the institutions to which they apply. The graduation ceremony took place on Sunday, February 10.

Check it out

According to Dr. London, with the increase in the use of technology, many electronic learning programmes have sur-faced but not all of them are recognised by the UCJ.

"A lot of people are registering through e-Learning and they always call us at the UCJ office to find out if such and such a place is recognised," she said. "If you have not been doing that, I can tell you to begin.

"... Sometimes you do not know where the people you get an email address or sometimes a post office box are located, which makes them hard to find. Sometimes, the federal government in the United States is looking for them, so when you see people advertising, check it out."