People warned of fake education/visa consultants in Pakistan

Myra Imran
Representatives of renowned educational institutions of Australia, United Kingdom and United States have warned aspiring candidate against fake consultants that actually make big majority of the total number of consultants working in the country.

They said that according to a rough estimate, there are more than 2,000 consultants in the country and among them only 20 are reliable and affiliated with the international institutions. They were talking to ‘The News’ at a two-day International Education Expo organised by HR Consultants on Sunday. “There is severe lack of good guidance in this regard and it is largely up to the student to judge the consultant’s reliability,” said Adeel Saeed Mir, Navitas Country Manager for Pakistan. He deals with admissions in colleges and universities in Australia and Canada.

Giving some hints about the identification of fake agencies, he said that they work on ‘done basis.’ “This term means that they ensure students about admission that is not possible. Many give false hopes to innocent students just to extract money and often tell them that the agency will manage admission even with low grades or false documents,” he added. He said that all these offers clearly indicate that the consultant is fraud. “A genuine consultant just guides and facilitates the client and clearly tells them that the last decision is in the hand of high commission or relevant authority,” he said.

Adeel said that students, who succeed in going abroad through such elements are never able to settle there and in majority of cases, they are caught and deported in the end. “Such youngsters are also vulnerable to abuse and often work in terrible conditions,” he added. He said that there are many fake colleges and universities in developed world and such consultants are usually attached with these institutions. “Even if a student gets a degree from such institution, it will be of no use,” he pointed out. He said that recently, the UK government has closed down around 300 such colleges and universities. “Now, the degrees issued by those institutions have become invalid worldwide.”

Rejecting the impression that the number of students applying for education abroad has decreased after change in the international politics, he said that the situation on the ground is just the opposite. “The number of students seeking this opportunity has actually increased.” He said that unstable political situation and increasing inflation is making more and more youngsters to apply for foreign degrees.

Amer Malik, Manager International Office Holmesglen, Australia, said that all information regarding the reliable consultants is usually available on the websites of relevant institutes. “Every university has got its own websites and students can double check whether the process they are following through consultants match the process mentioned on the website,” he said while giving another tip for checking the consultant.

Highlighting a changing trend, Malik said that more and more students are now applying for diploma courses that extend from one to two year. “There is increased realisation among youth that diploma courses make them more employable as market for such qualification is expanding,” he said appreciating the fact that Pakistani students are also keeping in mind the international market trends while applying for such courses.

The representatives said that that Australian government offers scholarships for students twice in a year that is in July and March.

“To apply for that, first a student needs to seek admission in Australia,” said Jennet from Melbourne Institute of Technology. As far as the conditions for admission is concerned, she said that along with India, Bangladesh, China, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, Pakistan falls in the level 4. “Students of these countries have to do some extra work to show their financial position back home,” she said adding that it is actually for the benefit of students themselves. Jennet said that these restrictions are only for bachelors and masters degree student. “For research work, Pakistan falls in level 2,” she said.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=254262