Fake Czech diplomas? The Russians detained them and the inspection begins in Prague
The Merkuria brutalist building is entered from the busy Argentinská Street in Prague. Before the revolution, a foreign trade company was based here, whose name the office space still uses. Today, he is left with only cigarette smoke, which blows a man’s nose as he walks through the revolving door. The building has long been vacated and ready for demolition.
“No one has been here since November,” the doorman answers when asked if I would find the classrooms of the Open European Academy of Economics and Politics somewhere.
The diplomas of this school were confiscated by Russian customs officers at the Ubylinka border crossing. On Thursday about that informed Federal Customs Service of Russia. According to customs, there were 204 diplomas of higher education and various certificates of completion of courses, including all personal data, ie names, birth numbers and other data. The Czech Ministry of Education therefore sent an inspection to educational institutions operating in the Czech Republic.
“In the event that OEAEP conducts foreign higher education in the Czech Republic in accordance with the legal order of another state – outside the EU, this conduct could fulfill the factual nature of the offense at universities. Therefore, according to the Act on Higher Education Institutions, the Ministry of Education has commissioned the inspection of the given entity and its activities, “said the director of the press department of the Ministry of Education, Lubomír Černá.
Obligations under the Higher Education Act
(2) A foreign university which has its registered office, central administration or principal place of business in the territory of another Member State of the European Union or which has been established or established under the law of another Member State of the European Union, hereinafter “European foreign university” ) is entitled to provide higher education in a foreign university study program in the Czech Republic, carried out in accordance with the legal regulations of its home state, if it has registered in the Czech Republic to fulfill information obligations pursuant to § 93b par. 1.
(3) A foreign university that is not a European foreign university (hereinafter referred to as a “non-European foreign university”) is entitled to provide foreign higher education in a foreign university study program in the Czech Republic, carried out in accordance with the legal regulations of its home state, if granted by the Ministry. pursuant to Section 93f for the provision of foreign higher education in the territory of the Czech Republic (hereinafter referred to as the “domestic permit”).
In translation, this means that the Ministry of Education does not even care that educational institutions registered in the Czech Republic have confiscated Russian customs diplomas, although this is, of course, strange. However, OEAEP mainly does not have a permit to offer study abroad, let alone Czech university programs. However, information from Russian customs shows that the seized diplomas were university. The Open European Academy of Economics and Politics in response to the List of Reports confirms that its documents have in fact been confiscated, but it already disputes that they were university diplomas.
“Since 2017, the Open European Academy of Economics and Politics has focused exclusively on non-higher education programs,” wrote Sergei Tarasov, OEAEP News List. “We consider the situation at the border to be a misunderstanding due to the current fragmented international situation, where the consignment in question did not contain university degrees, but certificates for successful vocational graduates,” he added to the confiscated consignment at customs.
However, at least on social networks, OEAEP states that it offers university studies, for example within the MBA study. It is a university program provided in the Czech Republic by branches of foreign universities.
The academy focused mainly on Russian-speaking students. The OEAEP website is also in Russian only. So they actually were. It was still possible to look at them on Thursday, and on Friday the servers reported that the site was still under construction. This also corresponds to the state of the academy’s headquarters, which is completely abandoned and there is no other.
“In the context of the OEAEP 2020 pandemics, implement all distance learning programs. The headquarters of our company is currently moving to a new address. The building in Argentinská Street is destined for demolition, “adds Tarasov without specifying where the school is moving and why it has taken it at least half a year.
The story begins in Ukraine
There are a number of similar institutions in the Czech Republic that offer paid study of an unclear level. The list of Reports two years ago described, for example, the case of Czech College. The institution acted as a branch of a foreign university, but did not fulfill its legal obligations to provide higher education. In addition, she took money from students for studies that did not even begin. However, most such “schools” in the Czech Republic are Russian-speaking. Economic newspaper described the case of the Jan Hus National Academy with Russian owners, which issued invalid diplomas.
“The big problem is that for the purpose of such a study, Russian citizens are issued visas in particular,” Roman Máca, a security analyst at the Institute for Politics and Society, told the Report List.
OEAEP itself was established in 2002. The company’s first executive, Tatiana Pergler, describes that she originally offered connections with Ukrainian higher education programs.
“So it’s been a long time, but I remember the Open European Academy of Economics and Politics was supposed to function as a branch of Kiev’s private university – the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management, but I don’t know how the cooperation continued,” Pergler said. she worked at OEAEP for a short time until 2003. Today she runs the 1st Slavic Grammar School in Prague, where, by the way, the first single classes for Ukrainian refugees before the Russian military invasion were established.
In the context of OEAEP and its diplomas withheld at the border, it does not inspire much confidence or mode of transport, whether it is the diplomas claimed by Russian customs officers or the certificates referred to in the school. The documents are part of the delivery of smuggled French perfumes, baby shampoos, drinks, vegetable seeds or spare parts.
“Due to the current international situation, logistics and the possibility of movement have suffered greatly. For this reason, the partners chose a non-standard method of delivery via a hitherto untried courier service. Unfortunately, it turned out that the person who took over the transport to our partners did not have enough documents. In this connection, there was a misunderstanding at the border and the documents in question remained in the customs warehouse, “explains Tarasov on behalf of the Open European Academy of Economics and Politics.
The Ministry of Education wanted to solve the problem with foreign branches of universities two years ago, based on the case of Czech College, which was described in the List of Reports. The Office prepared an amendment to the Higher Education Act, which corrected their operation. Only Czech universities or educational institutions should be able to register new ones, not any legal entity. The registration of Czech branches of European universities was also to be tightened. They were to apply to the Ministry of Education for a permit. However, the Chamber of Deputies did not discuss the amendment at all in the last election period. Today, it is still enough for foreign branches of European schools to apply for information. They don’t need a stamp. However, the Ministry of Education stated for the Report List that it would return to the amendment.
“The amendment will be submitted again, the ministry is currently working on it. It should also include a reform of doctoral studies, “adds Lubomír Černá, director of the press department of the Ministry of Education.
The Ministry of Education also admits that the current legislation is insufficient in the explanatory memorandum to the amendment approved by the former government. According to the European Higher Education Authority, it often circumvents because a university cannot be obtained for higher education, even if the provider declares it. Thus, for example, teaching can be provided by pedagogy without sufficient education and in completely unsuitable premises, nevertheless the Ministry of Education cannot prohibit the branch from operating in the Czech Republic.