|
|
 |
 |
| |
Ports Authority Chairman’s bogus doctorate revealed before parliamentary committee |
|
 |
|
2009-08-21 | 4.00 PM |
|
|
|
The parliamentary Committee on High Posts on Thursday (20) decided not to confirm Dr. P.B. Wickrema as Chairman of the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) due to doubts over the veracity of the educational qualifications presented by him following the revelation of his bogus doctorate.
The Committee on High Posts met in parliament on Thursday morning under the patronage of Parliamentary Affairs Minister M.H. Mohomad and members Bimal Ratnayake, Prof. Vishva Warnapala, Ravi Karunanayake, Renuka Herath, Lakshman Kiriella and John Amaratunge.
UNP parliamentarian Ravi Karunanayake had questioned the SLPA Chairman of his doctorate while Prof. |
|
| |
Warnapala had requested for a copy of the recitation given along with the doctorate certificate. The Chairman had said he did not have a copy of it as the original was in the UK.
Prof. Warnapala had said he could not accept that the Chairman did not have it with him, as degree certificates could easily be purchased in London for a few dollars.
The Committee had then decided not to confirm Wickrema in his post until the doctorate certificate presented by him is verified beyond doubt.
When a call was made to the telephone number of the university Wickrema has claimed to have attended, International University of America in the United Kingdom, a Russian lady had answered the call and said the university conducted its courses online. She had said that apart from a website and an e-mail, the university did not have either a permanent address or a building.
When asked if the degrees offered by the university were accepted in the UK, the lady disconnected the line without responding.
A university needs the approval of the British Accreditation Council in order to confer degrees. The university the SLPA Chairman claims to have attended is not listed among the names of the universities that have been registered under the Council.
Also, the Engineering Council UK is the recognized institution to confer degrees on engineering and the institution named by the SLPA Chairman is also not registered under the Council.
The name of the institution the SLPA Chairman claims to have received his doctorate from is also not listed under the Department of Innovations, Universities, and Skills Recognized UK degrees (http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/recognisedukdegrees), which is similar to UK’s Higher Education Department, where a list of names of accepted higher education institutions are listed.
The Department’s website also warns people of the institutions in the UK that could confer bogus degrees.
Therefore, the SLPA Chairman’s doctorate is a punishable offence under the UK’s Education Reforms Law of 1988.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
