Cabal of frauds

Failure to crack down on those sending Nepali students to fake universities abroad is inexcusable.

This week, news broke that Nepali students are being deceived into enrolling in fake universities in the UAE. A ring of education consultancies in Nepal is facing complaints from defrauded students. The universities where they sent students, with promises of international education and post-education employment opportunities, were actually training centres operating in the UAE. Victims, who paid up to Rs1.5 million in the scam, claim that these institutions capitalise on the free zones of Ajman, Sharjah or Dubai, where it is easy to start a business with a simple trade license, circumventing oversight from the UAE’s education authorities. The state-of-the-art infrastructures and equipment showcased on the websites and advertisements of the ‘universities’ do not exist. Instead, they operate from three or four small rooms, and students are told to attend classes online.