In Poland, a scandal of false diplomas splashes the political class
In Poland, fake diplomas issued to political figures in the country by a university are causing a scandal. It is even considered the biggest scandal in the history of national education in the country.
Collegium Humanum University offered MBAs acquired between three months and one semester for around 2,200 euros. Getty Images - RapidEye
By: Martin Chabal Follow
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From our correspondent in Warsaw
,
Martin Chabal
This private university in
Poland
offers training to obtain an MBA degree, that is to say a Master of Business Administration. It has the same name in French, but it could be translated as master's degree in business administration, a diploma for training in business management. These diplomas were issued under questionable conditions and in particular to political figures from the Law and Justice party, the populist party in government for the last eight years. But also to members of the new government coalition.
As luck would have it, PiS, the Law and Justice party, when it was in power, changed the rules for accessing high positions in public companies. Before, you had to pass a competition known to be quite complicated. With the new rule, a simple MBA was enough to occupy supervisory positions in public companies in energy, arms and chemicals. Nearly fifty people close to the Law and Justice party found themselves catapulted to high positions of responsibility once their diploma was in hand.
Fake diplomas, bribes and embezzlement
For investigators, these documents are fake. The university gives this diploma in a single semester after a very light exam with a multiple choice questionnaire of thirty questions. And the courses, of poor quality according to testimonies in the Polish media, are given remotely. But that's just the visible face of the iceberg. Because investigators also have evidence that university officials accepted bribes for degrees from political figures.
Sometimes, it was even public money that financed the training of certain state civil servants. The founder and rector of the private university was therefore logically arrested. He is charged with thirty counts, including corruption and embezzlement. But for the ruling coalition, this scandal poses a challenge as it tries to convince its voters to continue to vote for it for the local and European elections to come in the coming months. We even have important figures from the ruling camp who are among the alumni of this university. Furious, the head of government,
Donald Tusk
, announced that no former student of Collegium Humanum would obtain a position in a public company.
Also read: The Polish government at the center of a visa trafficking scandal one month before the legislative elections
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