"IDA probes claim about employee's 'fake' MBA - My Paper Apr 21, 2015
The Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) is investigating a claim that one of its employees possesses a fake master's degree.
In a Facebook note yesterday, IDA said it is continuing to look into the case of Nisha Padmanabhan, who joined the agency last year with a master's degree from Southern Pacific University, which is based online. The university has been alleged to be a "degree mill" - an institution selling non-accredited educational credentials or diplomas for a fee - and was closed in the United States by a court order. It is now apparently operating in Malaysia.
IDA has been criticised online, after a netizen accused it earlier this month of hiring Ms Padmanabhan despite her alleged phoney qualification. Last week, IDA responded on its Facebook page by saying that Ms Padmanabhan, a Singapore citizen, had received a bachelor's degree from "a reputable university". According to her LinkedIn page, she has a bachelor's in electronics and telecommunication from the University of Mumbai in India, and worked for nearly 14 years in various firms before joining IDA.
"She was recruited because of this bachelor's degree, extensive past work experience and good track record," IDA said. "Nisha pursued an MBA (the master's degree) out of personal interest, and it was not a relevant certificate for her position in IDA, though she was open about the fact that she had obtained it." In fact, 93 per cent of IDA staff hired at the level of applications consultant were hired because of their bachelor's degree. The criticism against IDA continued, however, with several people hijacking its Facebook posts on other subjects to comment on Ms Padmanabhan's hiring and the agency's handling of the case.
In its latest Facebook post on the matter yesterday, IDA said: "We understand your sentiments and concerns, and we are continuing to look into the matter." It also asked people who have comments to share them on the post, or e-mail them to info@ida.gov.sg. It added that it would moderate comments more actively on the rest of its Facebook posts, so that the discussion would remain civil and constructive. It said it does not generally remove comments, but reserves the right to remove those that contain vulgarities, are personal attacks against individuals or are deemed inappropriate."
Well. Better late than never.
Lessons for me are:
1. IDA is silly to comment that it hired Ms Nisha on her Bachelor degree as CLEARLY it DID NOT. It hired Ms Nisha becuase of her 14 over years of extensive GOOD work in various firms! YES? This answer would have dovetailed nicely with the recent mantra from the government ministers that: it is NOT able the paper qualification! It is about REAL LIFE experiences and past and present job performances! LOL!!;
2. it is BETTER late than NEVER for IDA to finally recognise that IF an employee puts in a 'fake' qualification, it is an integrity issue. How does integrity weigh in on assessing an employee's performance? If compliance to code of conducts is NOT part of the performance assessment criteria, I guessed it dos not matter! Right? Only IDA can answer this question;
3. interesting that IDA made the point that Ms Nisha is a Singapore citizen. It would be good to KNOW if she is a NEW citizen or not. If she is a NEW citizen, when did she get her Singapore citizenship? Of course, this is potentially a sensitive point as some netizens will or may now point their arrows at the authorities who issue citizenship for missing the 'fake' MBA, unless it is another not-to-be-considered qualification!
It is interesting how mistakes or oversights were made when one tries harder to look for them. It is not easy to be dealing with some many people and so many issues.
The Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) is investigating a claim that one of its employees possesses a fake master's degree.
In a Facebook note yesterday, IDA said it is continuing to look into the case of Nisha Padmanabhan, who joined the agency last year with a master's degree from Southern Pacific University, which is based online. The university has been alleged to be a "degree mill" - an institution selling non-accredited educational credentials or diplomas for a fee - and was closed in the United States by a court order. It is now apparently operating in Malaysia.
IDA has been criticised online, after a netizen accused it earlier this month of hiring Ms Padmanabhan despite her alleged phoney qualification. Last week, IDA responded on its Facebook page by saying that Ms Padmanabhan, a Singapore citizen, had received a bachelor's degree from "a reputable university". According to her LinkedIn page, she has a bachelor's in electronics and telecommunication from the University of Mumbai in India, and worked for nearly 14 years in various firms before joining IDA.
"She was recruited because of this bachelor's degree, extensive past work experience and good track record," IDA said. "Nisha pursued an MBA (the master's degree) out of personal interest, and it was not a relevant certificate for her position in IDA, though she was open about the fact that she had obtained it." In fact, 93 per cent of IDA staff hired at the level of applications consultant were hired because of their bachelor's degree. The criticism against IDA continued, however, with several people hijacking its Facebook posts on other subjects to comment on Ms Padmanabhan's hiring and the agency's handling of the case.
In its latest Facebook post on the matter yesterday, IDA said: "We understand your sentiments and concerns, and we are continuing to look into the matter." It also asked people who have comments to share them on the post, or e-mail them to info@ida.gov.sg. It added that it would moderate comments more actively on the rest of its Facebook posts, so that the discussion would remain civil and constructive. It said it does not generally remove comments, but reserves the right to remove those that contain vulgarities, are personal attacks against individuals or are deemed inappropriate."
Well. Better late than never.
Lessons for me are:
1. IDA is silly to comment that it hired Ms Nisha on her Bachelor degree as CLEARLY it DID NOT. It hired Ms Nisha becuase of her 14 over years of extensive GOOD work in various firms! YES? This answer would have dovetailed nicely with the recent mantra from the government ministers that: it is NOT able the paper qualification! It is about REAL LIFE experiences and past and present job performances! LOL!!;
2. it is BETTER late than NEVER for IDA to finally recognise that IF an employee puts in a 'fake' qualification, it is an integrity issue. How does integrity weigh in on assessing an employee's performance? If compliance to code of conducts is NOT part of the performance assessment criteria, I guessed it dos not matter! Right? Only IDA can answer this question;
3. interesting that IDA made the point that Ms Nisha is a Singapore citizen. It would be good to KNOW if she is a NEW citizen or not. If she is a NEW citizen, when did she get her Singapore citizenship? Of course, this is potentially a sensitive point as some netizens will or may now point their arrows at the authorities who issue citizenship for missing the 'fake' MBA, unless it is another not-to-be-considered qualification!
It is interesting how mistakes or oversights were made when one tries harder to look for them. It is not easy to be dealing with some many people and so many issues.
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