The issue of fake degrees

The fake degree scandal sheds a very unfavourable light on Pakistan internationally. This is visible from the reaction of our government, which acted quite quickly in clamping down on the servers and offices of the infamous organisation. The scandal involving Pakistan should not surprise us. For many years we have been battling with the problem of fake degrees.
Cheating and fake degrees are nothing new in our society. They cannot be addressed through the commission investigating the scandal alone. What we need is a proper check on all foreign-affiliated universities that are awarding degrees to people who then climb to top positions based on these degrees. A degree is not a formality. It is the educational basis for people to qualify for a profession or politics on merit. Merit is based not only on performance but on qualification as well and therefore utmost attention should be given to scrutinise the character and background of people holding foreign-affiliate degrees. Expansion and abuse of IT also demand enactment of stringent cybercrime laws.
Ali Ashraf Khan
Karachi