John F Kennedy once said “Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource”. This quote shows the importance of Education to the development of a nation and one can relate this to Sri Lanka’s story. Sri Lanka boasts of a literacy rate [...]

Education

Professional Assignment Writing and the Plight of Sri Lanka’s higher education industry

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John F Kennedy once said “Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resource”. This quote shows the importance of Education to the development of a nation and one can relate this to Sri Lanka’s story. Sri Lanka boasts of a literacy rate of 92%. However one should remember that literacy is the ability to read and write, while education refers to a process of acquiring knowledge, values, principals and discipline. It is this process that enriches a person not knowledge itself. This article is on the deteriorating state of our higher education system due to lack of governance on the degree and diploma awarding private education providers in Sri Lanka.

Virtual Classrooms and the emergence of Professional Assignment Writers

For me personally, the fondest memories while studying for my MBA are associated with each and every person who was part of my learning team. Our study sessions went beyond the norm and extended to heartfelt conversations and the forging of stronger bonds. It’s unfortunate that present students are deprived of such memories due to virtual classrooms and lack of interaction. We were all excited initially on how resilient the higher education industry was, during the pandemic, as many education providers swiftly moved on to online platforms and continued delivering lectures virtually.  However the pitfalls were that the new method of delivery has made student engagement minimal and this has become so challenging for subjects such as Marketing and Business Management which are more practical in nature.  Most of the participants rely on receiving recordings of sessions and the option of learning at their convenience which is a good thing. However to be entrusted with self-centred learning of this nature, students need to be disciplined in spending quality time listening to recordings and engaging in active learning.

Lack of discipline and having to deal with personal and official commitments lead students to struggle in meeting assignment submission deadlines at which point they resort to professional assignment writers for help. These assignment writers approach students with attractive promises such as the option to edit and amend with no additional payments and a plagiarism check on the assignment before submission. What these assignment writers don’t understand is that they contribute to the downfall of the standards of education and in turn has blatantly betrayed professional ethics and moral values of honesty, integrity and authenticity.

I have come across many instances where international qualification awarding bodies have withheld results of students who have engaged in plagiarism and collusion which deprives the student of the money paid to the university and the risk of being blacklisted. Even if one gets away with plagiarism and collusion they will have to deal with the guilty conscience of not being honest. Just imagine walking up on stage to receive your certificate on the graduation day, knowing that you don’t deserve it.

Attempting the assignment by yourself builds the capability of literature review on theories, concepts, models and frameworks while allowing students to apply and relate knowledge in real life situations. This will equip them to overcome challenges that they may face in real life.

Authenticity means you’re honest with yourself and with others, and you take responsibility for your mistakes. As educators it is our responsibility to teach the value of authenticity.  If you call yourself a professional, you need to impart knowledge through knowledge sharing methods such as teaching, authoring etc. instead of prompting our future generations to engage in unethical practices.

Role of the Government and Corporates

Most of the time the private institutes and universities turn a blind eye towards plagiarism and collusion due to commercial interests. What matters for them is the number of enrolments and the pass rates. In order to achieve these KPIs they will be increasingly tolerant towards malpractices.

This is where the government regulators such as the University Grants Commission should step in. It’s important to conduct periodic audits to ensure that these private entities have taken adequate measures to eliminate malpractices and to uplift the quality standards of education. These controls should be enforced across all higher education providers so that none could take advantage. Establishing an Office of the Independent Adjudicator or an Ombudsman to review student complaints is a need of the hour.

Corporates too have a role to play. Most job vacancies state the qualifications candidates should possess to be eligible for the job. However when including qualifications for job listings, corporates will have to duly consider the modules, learning hours, mode of assessment and quality assurance of teaching and learning processes. This would help corporates to shortlist the most suitable candidates who possess adequate knowledge and skills to perform the job.

I appeal to all educators to uphold professional standards in higher education establishments as this would decide the future of our country. We need educated professionals with the right attitude and intellect to lead our country in the future.

About the Author

Dhamitha is a Chartered Marketer and a Fellow member of CIM (UK). He’s a life member of SLIM and a Certified Professional Marketer (Asia Pacific) and holds a MBA from University of Southern Queensland Australia. He shares his expertise on many lecture panels including the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing, ESOFT Metro Campus and the Imperial College of Business Studies on Postgraduate and MBA qualifications and has a career spanning more than 15 years in diverse industries such as Apparel, Fashion Retail, Tableware, Shipping, Logistics and Education.

- Dhamitha Pathirana

 

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