By Kenny Chee

ERRANT operators of private schools that offer fake degrees or cheat students of their fees will be fined up to $10,000 and jailed for up to a year, from later this year.

A new statutory board, called the Council for Private Education, will also be set up to regulate and develop the private-education sector.

These provisions and others under the Private Education Bill, which was passed in Parliament yesterday, will put the private-education sector under greater government regulation when they come into effect, probably later this year.

Senior Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Education S. Iswaran said the changes were needed as exponential growth of the private- education sector had resulted in a ?highly uneven spread? of standards among private schools here.

The Bill comes in the wake of fiascos involving private schools, including Brookes Business School that offered fake degrees.

The school closed in July.

Under the Bill, all private- education schools at the post-secondary school level, including online ones, have 18 months to comply with stricter regulations and register with the new council.

The rules include capping the amount of fees schools can collect in advance from students to minimise fee loss.

If a school closes, its operator must ensure its students are placed in other institutions, or be guilty of a criminal offence. Schools that wish to take in foreign students will also have to adhere to higher standards, under a certification scheme called EduTrust, which the council will run.

This will replace the existing CaseTrust for private schools.

Under EduTrust, schools have to provide fee protection for both foreign and Singaporean students, unlike under CaseTrust which protects only foreign students.

Asked why EduTrust will not be mandatory for all private schools, Mr Iswaran said that it would mean extra costs for schools and students.

He added that the EduTrust certification is not always needed, because there are instances of short courses where the quality can be vouched for.

kennyc@sph.com.sg

Read also:
» Brookes faces another lawsuit for $528,000
» Brookes duped? Not so, say ex-students
» School peddles fake degree

For more my paper stories click here.