The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has warned students and parents against a fake website created by certain unscrupulous elements to dupe unsuspecting public and even schools. It said the website resembling that of the official one has been sending messages to potential victims, asking them to deposit money on the site for creating and downloading the admit card for CBSE classes 10 and 12, 2023 examinations which is expected to be held in February 15 next year. However, the board has clarified that it does not collect any fees directly from students or parents for downloading admit cards and warned them not to fall prey to such frauds. But this is not an isolated case. In fact, fraudsters have been having a field day for years in education sector, duping gullible students and parents of their hard-earned money and even to the extent of robbing them of their future. Not long ago, the Indira Gandhi National Open University had listed as many as 116 “unrecognised” education boards across the country, saying that it won’t admit students passing out from such boards. On both instances, fraudsters were trying to dupe the people by using pseudo names similar to the official ones. This fraudulent tactic is not new but sadly, many people, either out of carelessness or sheer ignorance end up falling victims.
There are also many unrecognised colleges, including those offering engineering and nursing courses across the country. The University Grants Commission (UGC) had released the names of dozens of self-styled unrecognised institutions in the past and it continues to do the same whenever such universities are identified. It clearly said that such bogus institutions functioning in contravention of the UGC Act, 1956, do not have any authority to confer degrees to students. This means the degree obtained by students in such colleges is useless, as it won’t be accepted for admission to any other university for higher education or for job purposes. At the end of the day, it’s the students who stand to suffer. They end up wasting money, time, energy and above all their future. The Anti Malpractice Cell of the UGC is in place to crack down on fake universities by issuing show-cause notices, publishing updated list at regular intervals and asking the state authorities to take action against fake universities in its jurisdiction. But that’s not enough. The Centre should take measures to end this menace by awarding severe punishment to people promoting such rackets in the guise of providing education. The general public, on its part, should be vigilant and inform the UGC if they find any fake institutions. Students and parents also should check the authenticity of the source before taking an admission or making any online payment. It is important to identity if links appearing on one’s mobile phone screens are safe to open at all, forget about losing one’s hard earned money to imposters. Utmost caution should be taken as fraudsters will be around as long as people are gullible.