Hong Kong’s Education Bureau (EDB) chief on Saturday said during a phone-in programme there that over 20 non-Macau students were suspected of applying for admission to the private Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) with fake Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination (HKDSE) results, and Macau’s Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) later responded to media enquiries by saying that it would maintain close contact with the Macau police, adding that it had further verified the qualifications of other local university admissions but not found any other irregularities.
According to Hong Kong’s Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin, as reported by Hong Kong media, the use of bogus HKDSE certificates was uncovered following the university’s verification, in cooperation with the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA), of the authenticity of the over 20 students’ results submitted for admission applications. The HKEAA has reported the cases to the police, Choi said.
The Post made enquiries to the Education and Youth Development Bureau by email about the incident at noon on Saturday, and the bureau told the media through a press release late Saturday afternoon that the university would expel 24 students with false HKDSE scores and hold them accountable.
The statement did not reveal where the students came from.
The cases have alerted the police in both places. The DSEDJ statement noted that “it is reported that the Hong Kong authorities have notified their police forces of the cases for follow-up investigation, and that the DSEDJ will maintain close contact with the Macau police forces”.
The statement quoted the enrolment guidelines issued by the bureau to local tertiary education institutions, underlining that enrolees are forbidden to apply for admission through any intermediaries or other individuals; furthermore, any applicants found to have applied for admission to a local university using false documents will be disqualified from enrolling in the university, or have their degree revoked, and would be held legally responsible.
The Post also emailed the Macau University of Science and Technology on Saturday regarding the incident, but no reply had been received from the university by last night. On the same day, the university’s vice-president, Kwong Ying Wah, said in an interview with public broadcaster TDM that the cases were uncovered after enquiries were made to the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority (HKEAA) about the 24 students who failed to submit proof of the required documents when enrolling in the university, adding that the university has reported the cases to the Public Security Police (PSP) regarding the students’ special stay permits for further studies in Macau.
According to Kwong, as cited by TDM, this is not the first time that MUST has encountered such a situation, as the university has previously uncovered cases in which applicants had been admitted using forged public examination results from international organisations.
The university is considering setting up enrolment interview sessions in order to prevent such situations from happening again, Kwong said.
This undated file photo taken from the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) website shows its campus in Taipa.
