Alleged Fake University Degree: FG, NUC Urged to Investigate JPTS School
Alumni of a degree awarding institution operating in Warri, Delta State, Joint Professional Training Supported International (JPTS), have called on the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC) to, as a matter of urgency, order a probe into the activities of the school to ensure whether or not it is among the fake institutions running various affiliate degree programmes in the country.
The aggrieved petitioners pleaded profusely that the outcome of the proposed investigation by both the Federal Ministry of Education and the NUC would help them reorganize their lives early enough.
This was contained in an open letter written by some of the 'gradiates' to the Education Minister and signed on their behalf by Mr Mamamu Bakaiwei, copies of which were made available to journalists in Warri on Tuesday.
The Alumni stated that they were disturbed because since they allegedly graduated from some of the degree programmes run by the school, they have not made any headway with their certificates "because majority of the academic institutions they applied to for further studies had been showing signs of refusal to accept their certificates".
They alleged that they were initially assured at the time of applying to the JPTS that their certificates and degrees would be accepted by foreign universities.
While noting that the outcome of the proposed investigation by both the Federal Ministry of Education and the NUC would help them reorganize their lives early enough, the petitioners urged the Federal Government to hearken to their request "without delay".
The open letter partly reads, "We were promised internationally recognized certificates due to JPTS's affiliations with universities in Togo and other parts .
"Unfortunately our experiences have been far from the promised standards. There appears to have been misrepresentation in the affiliation programmes.
"The degrees we have diligently pursued are not receiving the recognition we were led to expect, severely impacting our employment prospects, immigration possibilities and opportunities for further education .
"We request a comprehensive and transparent investigation into the operations and international partnerships of Joint Professional Training Support International (JPTS). "Additionally, we strongly advocate for an investigation by the National Universities Commission (NUC) to determine whether JPTS centres meet the national minimum standards for operating university courses in Nigeria".
Mamamu Bakaiwei, one of the Alumni of the school, while speaking with newsmen affirmed that JPTS issued him a degree certificate in Msc Oil and Gas Management, from South American University at the end of his masters programme.
"They issued two certificates, one is a professional certificate which carries JTPS and then a South American University. And recently they have started issuing a degree certificate in the name of Global Wealth University. I have the professional certificate and the one from the South American University. Mine is Msc in Oil and Gas Management", he said.
Mamamu however noted that he had "been having problem with evaluation of his Master's degree certificate by evaluation bodies".
"The problem with the certificate is evaluation. For those that want to travel abroad when we drop our certificates for evaluation by various evaluation bodies we don't get recognition.
"We have complained to the school. And we were told to give them some time to sort things out. This has dragged on for too long".
Efforts to obtain reactions from the management of JPTS were unsuccessful as of the time of filing this report.
A text message sent to the phone number of one of the management staff for comment over the allegations was not responded to just as the calls to the phone number rang out.
