ASEP contestants and civil servants pay up to 3,000 euros for academic project who will help them in hunting for position in government sector or improve your academic qualifications to qualify for a better job position. Added to these two categories of “buyers” of university work are those students who seek to take a difficult course and pay a third party to do the work.

Around Universities and also in Internet they are organized from small offices of one or two people to companies that make “ready” master’s theses. “Small offices do not advertise, everything is done in words among students who were satisfied with their services, i.e. received a degree, says “K” university student. This phenomenon has intensified in recent years as many appointments have been made in the public sector and new leaders have been elected. It is characteristic that in the largest branch of the state, education, 25 thousand appointments were made and all heads of education were replaced. In the case of Office of Criminal Prosecution for Electronic Crime The Ministry of Protection of Citizens considers cases of seizure on a paid basis and in full written assignments on behalf of third parties. Artificial intelligence tools have entered the big industry of plagiarism and copying.

In particular, the surge in postgraduate education in recent years has also been attributed to the acquisition of degrees by ASEP candidates, as well as civil servants. “We have graduate students from 25 to 55 years old. I remember one very knowledgeable and consistent gentleman who wanted to improve his resume in order to qualify for a management position.” says “K” student of the central university.

Those who sell such services operate underground and covertly. So how an experienced owner of a university tutoring school told K. in Attica “there are many young people who rent small premises around the universities and write university papers. They move, develop on the periphery of university textbooks that operate legally.

At the same time, the number of companies specializing in assignment writing has increased. “They are positioned as allegedly “advising”, but in fact they write the work of “cunning” clients from beginning to end,” says Hellenic Federation of Private Educators (OIELE)with its president G. Georgios Christopoulos will perform in “K” for a phenomenon so vast that the field must first be mapped to solve the problem. The fact is that last year the leadership of the NPA filed a lawsuit with the competent prosecutor’s office, as an announcement hung in the premises of the university stating that the offices-firms that prepare the papers are cooperating with the university staff. He meant that professors “send” student clients to these companies.

Price gradation

“Many children are renting space around institutions and moving to the fringes of university education, which operates legally.”

The turnover of companies cannot be estimated, but it is considered high, since the phenomenon occurs both in undergraduate and graduate studies. Prices cannot be accurately determined as this activity is carried out within the shadow economy and payment is made without a receipt. Anyway reports of students and teachers in “K” talk about work from 100 euros to 3000 euros. The gradation of prices depends on the volume of each task and the degree of its complexity, as well as on the student. A different rate applies to assignments given as part of an undergraduate course, for a degree or as part of a graduate program, a lower fee for undergraduate students who write papers for junior courses.

There are also questions about postgraduate programs at distance learning universities abroad and how their degrees are earned. It is significant that the Ministry of Education has established that candidates for leadership positions in the field of education who have a diploma from a foreign university, in order to be credited with points, as well as for knowledge of a foreign language in which the degree was obtained, must pass exams in a foreign language. After all, many have applied for master’s degrees from foreign universities, but far fewer have taken the corresponding oral examinations.

In addition, many focus on distance learning in graduate school – many Greeks choose them as they serve them as they work simultaneously – and to what extent they are actually performed or … on the fly and without academic conditions.

As OIELE emphasizes, “The assessment of academic qualifications in ASEP tables has reinforced in our country the shameful phenomenon of writing dissertations, both for master’s and doctoral degrees, by companies that are positioned as “consulting” but actually write from the beginning to end the work” cunning clients. In this way, dozens of delinquent teacher candidates will be appointed to the ASEP board and take the place of those who have worked hard to get their title.”

Can the problem be solved? If those who write tasks plagiarize texts, it’s easier. And this is because all libraries have plagiarism detection software installed. On the contrary, it is difficult for a professor to detect fraud when “job sellers” compose assignments without building up other people’s texts and without plagiarism.

POINT OF VIEW

“Key” – an approach to the good of knowledge

Nikos Photopoulos*

Unfortunately, issues such as “purchasing” assignments or “paid” preparation of master’s and dissertations are often associated and coexist with other practices such as “plagiarism”, “plagiarism”, “text identification”, etc., practices, which, apart from being international, in no way respect scientific and academic ethics. At a time when qualifications and the acquisition of skills are in demand, we are facing a growing “skills inflation”, which in its development tends to degrade and directly harm the essence of training, which leads to the flourishing of purely profit-oriented strategies and practices, but also and utilitarian orientation.

In my view, the problem is not citizens’ efforts to educate themselves, seeking knowledge, skills, and qualifications through credible, educationally and academically sound processes. Against. Participation in education, learning and lifelong learning is important to continually strengthen and expand. The problem lies in the emergence of a “market” culture that is flourishing these days, with the labor market constantly devaluing and underpaying the qualifications and skills of workers while “pushing” higher – mostly certified – qualifications, without however a coordinated state having to provide the funds. , resources, human resources, as well as the multimodal support that citizens need to adequately meet this requirement. The “global” labor market and, in a broader sense, the “internal” labor market constantly raise the “educational bar”, but do not provide conditions for a smooth and socially just transition to a substantive “knowledge society”. If we take into account such elements as unemployment, inequality, the absence of a serious regulatory framework, policies that devalue the power and role of public education and training systems, etc., we understand that favorable conditions are being created for the development of a “market” pedagogical environment . This trend clearly causes concern and threatens the credibility and quality of education and training, as a result of which a significant, sharp and institutional demarcation of the process under consideration seems absolutely necessary.

Obviously, there are “technologies of control”, as well as a strong will of agencies and educational institutions to ensure the conditions for scientific and educational ethics. However, “technical means”, no matter how perfect they are, are not sufficient in themselves. A cultural change is also required in regard to the approach to the good of knowledge. This is where I believe the “key” lies. As long as knowledge is treated as a “consumer good” and not as a cultural code and life value, the phenomenon will continue and clearly intensify. However, the state should no longer delay and, above all, strictly and institutionally control every “business activity” as well as every “unethical behavior” associated with practices that promote meritocracy in the award, recognition and certification of qualifications and contribute to the simplification of the educational process throughout spectrum of education and training.

* Mr. Nikos Fotopoulos is Associate Professor of Social and Educational Policy at the University of Peloponnese.