A Malaysian pop star with a bogus doctorate has been running a college offering University of Wales degree courses, a BBC Cymru Wales Week In Week Out investigation reveals tonight.
The programme also found that a college in Bangkok that Thai authorities say is operating illegally is offering courses leading to degrees from the historic Welsh university.
Week In Week Out: University Challenged, to be shown on BBC One Wales on Tuesday, November 9, looks at the extent to which the University of Wales validates courses in overseas institutions.
The investigation reveals that Fazley Yaakob, who runs the Fazley International College (FIC) in Kuala Lumpur, was claiming to have both a Masters and a Doctorate in Business Administration. But both came from a bogus university.
Pop star Fazley, who has four hit albums to his name, claimed the qualifications from the European Business School (Cambridge), an offshoot of the Irish International University, which was exposed as a sham by the BBC in 2008.
He says the University of Wales did not ask about his credentials, which were displayed prominently on the college website until he was confronted by BBC Wales reporter Ciaran Jenkins in Kuala Lumpur.
Professor Nigel Palastanga said the University was “concerned” about the issues raised in the programme.
“We are not happy about what is happening, we are dealing with it and will deal with it very thoroughly and will learn lessons from what has happened.”
The University of Wales announced it had suspended its involvement with Fazley International College, and would take no new admissions to its Business Administration and MBA courses until the matter had been investigated.
Professor Palastanga said there were no concerns about academic standards at the college.
Meanwhile, Thai authorities say Academia Italiana, a fashion college offering University of Wales validated courses in Bangkok, has been operating illegally.
Dr Sumate Yammoon, Secretary General of the Commission on Higher Education in Thailand, told BBC Wales last week that the matter was now in the hands of the police.
However, Professor Palastanga, the pro-vice chancellor of the University of Wales said yesterday the situation had changed.
“My information is that the college is now operating legally within the Thai system,” he said.
Jenny Randerson, the Welsh Lib Dem education spokesperson, said she believed the University of Wales had now “run its course” and that its remaining member institutions in Wales – Swansea Metropolitan University, UWIC, Glyndwr University, Trinity St David’s and University of Wales Newport – could operate independently.
Universities in Wales are bracing themselves for the outcome of a review into the governance of higher education, ordered by the Education Minister, Leighton Andrews.
He has now instructed the review to look at the revelations in the Week In Week Out programme.
Cardiff University left the University of Wales in 2004 while the universities of Bangor, Swansea and Aberystwyth decided to offer their own degrees in 2008.
In November 2008, a BBC Wales Dragon’s Eye investigation revealed that the University of Wales validated courses run by a controversial bible college in the United States.
The University severed its ties with Trinity College of the Bible in Newburgh, Indiana shortly before the investigation was broadcast.
Professor Palastanga said it was “not good” for the University’s reputation when things go wrong, however he stressed that they work continually with their partners to uphold standards.
The University of Wales validates courses in more than a hundred colleges in over forty countries.
There are currently 70,000 students studying for University of Wales degrees worldwide.
The University says the profits from its international validation programmes are invested in Welsh higher education.
Week In Week Out: University Challenged will be shown on BBC One Wales at 10.35pm on Tuesday, November 9
