Rumbled!

I had an interesting conversation with Dr. Bottiger recently. It seems he has stumbled across this blog and figured out (with little difficulty as Mike is my real name) who the author is. Whilst this was to be expected, I am still surprised that he came across it whilst the blog is so young.

Thankfully he is not annoyed and is quite happy for me to continue with what I am doing. Libel laws being what they are in Korea, he could have easily requested that I close down the site, just for mentioning his name! He considers an independent evaluation of the course to be useful for any students who wish to gather information from informed sources, especially with all of the negative, uninformed information currently floating about.

Hopefully, as readership increases, we can work on getting any news out on this site as soon as it becomes available. I know that Dr. Bottiger is working with some US accreditation agencies at the moment so that KEISIE can become a better choice for people looking to work towards credit to be applied at other institutions, as well as to offer the degrees more utility outside of Korea (where they are Government recognised) and India (where ICAATS provide accreditation).

Perhaps we can invite Dr. Bottiger to make contributions in the future, and to clarify any incorrect information that I may post. Whatever he decides is best for this blog, I would like to welcome him to the audience, and I hope he has a happy stay here.

KEISIE and ICAATS

If you exercise due diligence (and do a quick Google search), you will quickly discover that there is some controversy about the validity of ICAATS accreditation. Unfortunately, many people are involved are arguing from a position of opinion rather than fact. There are some people who are vehemently against any education system that does not follow the western model, and they are under the mistaken belief that ALL western education models are identical.

The people who do argue from a position of fact are those from India. Unfortunately, they appear to be connected to ICAATS in some manner. The most vocal defenders of ICAATS accreditation are those working for a university that is accredited by ICAATS.

Until very recently, I was not connected to ICAATS and I had no real interest in defending their position. I am not working towards an ICAATS accredited M.Ed, and whilst that could put my compromise my beliefs this is not the case. I will now try to outline my position.

Who are ICAATS?

ICAATS are The International Council For Accrediting Alternate And Theological Studies. They are an accrediting agency set up to accredit theological courses since 1954, and do so as an NGO. They received recognition from the Indian government in 2003 and now hold a license to accredit courses.

ICAATS are an NGO. In India, most degree courses are completed in Government approved institutions, and accreditation comes from the ministry of education. These institutions only teach and practice the national religion, Hinduism. 80% of the population is Hindi.

In order to preserve the rights of minority religions, the Government established a system whereby “All minorities, whether based on religion or language, shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.” This is written into the Indian constitution, and was signed into law in 1950, just 3 years after they gained independence. It was never necessary to seek accreditation, yet ICAATS was set up to offer a system of checks to ensure some level of academic integrity. Many religious institutions in India are self-accredited and their degrees are considered valid within India.

An amusing thing to note is that the Indian system of accreditation for institutes of higher education, and that of allowing religious schools to self-accredit (or seek the accreditation of an NGO) is reflected almost identically in the US education model, yet the US model followed a decade later. US Education was unaccredited until the late 1960’s. Nowadays, US educational institutes can seek accreditation from national or local organisations. As there is strict separation of state and religion, religious institutions in the US are either self accredited, or accredited by an NGO.

What is accreditation?

Accreditation is a third party verification of academic integrity. In the US, it is required to secure funding for students. In the UK, it is never required as the government grants a license to issue degrees to Universities and colleges whose quality they are satisfied with.

In the UK, the government license is required in order to secure funding for your college or university. In the US, national, state, or religious NGO accreditation is required. Essentially, accreditation is only sought so that that institutes can get funding. This funding is only available for domestic (or in the case of the US, state resident) students and so international students do not benefit from accreditation in any way. The UK Universities are not formally recognised in the US, and the UK will not formally recognise US education. That being said, both countries will recognise that the degrees granted by both countries are of a high quality and a US degree will be recognised by UK universities and UK employers, despite its unaccredited status in the UK. The opposite holds true in the US.

The Indian system is a mix of the UK and US system (though it came before the US system), yet people are unwilling to consider it genuine because, dare I say it, the standards are Indian! The Indian education system is first rate. Indian people are, for the most part, bi-lingual, and they are taking jobs every day from the UK and the US in a number of important sectors. These are not people who are receiving a substandard education!

Should an International School seek accreditation?

My honest opinion here? I do not think that an international school such as KEISIE requires accreditation. They are approved by the Korean government to grant degrees and so they are able to qualify their existence with that simple fact.

I know from speaking with Dr. Bottiger, and from my research into one-day opening a language school of my own, that the Korean Ministry of Education impose a very stringent series of checks to ensure the academic credentials of any licensed educational institution. When I provided feedback for the TEFL course that I conducted through KEI, I was told that the government actually verified the system of testing that was in place to ensure that standards for a simple TEFL certification were high, and this is despite there being any standard in place.

To date, KEISIE is the only licensed virtual school in Korea. The MOE actually invented a new series of balances (and by all accounts a new tax code) for them. They are government approved, and so they do not really need any other accreditation.

That said, most of their students will be from outside of Korea and I applaud their willingness to seek external accreditation. US accreditation gives comfort to people who are unable to take a global view of education. As most US accreditation agencies require some history before they grant accreditation, KEISIE will have to be in operation for a few years before they can realise this goal. Like many US schools, they will have to operate as an unaccredited institute before they can be considered valid.

Is an unaccredited degree a fake degree?

NO! Absolutely not! Many unaccredited colleges within the US are of a high standard. In California, people from selected unaccredited institutes are eligible to take the bar exam and practice law! This does not indicate a lack of validity when a degree is unaccredited. (Whilst relatively few people pass the bar exam when they come from an unaccredited institution, this is more a reflection on the quality of applicant who are likely to be unable to study at an accredited college. Most people studying will be from a poor economic background and so opt for the lower fees of an unaccredited college, and likely to be working as well as studying).

A fake degree, such as those you read about in the newspapers, is one that is a forgery or one where you “earn” your degree by signing a cheque. A degree that is earned through study and hard work is NOT a fake degree. As long as you are honest about where you earned the degree, your degree is not considered fake.

I personally believe that a program of educational study is as valid as you, the student, make it. If you receive good quality instruction and are willing to work towards your goals, you will come out of the program with a greater knowledge of your given subject. How much greater the knowledge is depends on the work you invest. Essentially, you are paying for an education, and that education should be your measure of satisfaction, NOT the accredited status.

With KEISIE, I will receive my M.Ed and I will be happy about both the education I received, and the price I paid. After discussions with friends who are studying distance MA’s, MBA’s and M.Ed’s, I know that I am doing as much work as they are, and that I am receiving an education as valid as they are. In the end, that is all anybody should care about.