The Ministry of Education has published a list of more than 10,000 standard overseas academies, including authorized universities and colleges in 44 countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. The aim of the list is to protect students from being fooled by unauthorized overseas universities, says an article in Beijing Youth Daily. Excerpts:

The dramatic increase in the number of Chinese students choosing to study abroad has seen a corresponding increase in the number of education agencies offering them admission to overseas universities, quite a few of which are unauthorized. The ministry's list, therefore, will prevent them from falling prey to irregular universities whose only aim is to make money at the expense of students.

But the ministry should make more efforts to protect students' interests and create a healthy education environment in China. For example, they should also publish a list of unauthorized universities to help students to keep away from them. The ministry's list may not cover all the recognized universities, making it difficult for students to identify the unauthorized ones with names similar to those of regular academies.

Moreover, employers should verify the diplomas of candidates before recruiting them, because some people deliberately "buy" the diplomas issued by unauthorized academies to raise their academic profile and get jobs.

The education authorities should also take action against unauthorized universities in China. They can only warn students against unauthorized universities abroad, but have the power to ban the irregular ones functioning in China.

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(China Daily 02/26/2014 page9)