Cyber University Warned by Ministry

The education ministry will issue a warning to Japan’s first all-Internet university to more diligently confirm the identities of students to prevent the use of ringers posing as students. Cyber University is operated by Japan Cyber Educational Institute, a SoftBank subsidiary established in January 2006, and began offering courses to the public in April 2007.

According to the Asahi Shimbun:

When the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology approved the establishment of Cyber University in November 2006, it asked the school to confirm the identities of students through an orientation process that involved direct interviews. Students of the university can listen to lectures and take tests over the Internet, including on mobile handsets of course, without actually going to campus. But that means other people could do all the work for students to gain the credits needed for a degree.

Cyber University chief Sakuji Yoshimura, a visiting professor of Waseda University specializing in Egyptology, said the university would make stronger efforts to confirm the identities of students before they enter the university as well as use mobile phones to confirm that the student is actually attending a “lecture.”

Shocking Typical lack of attention to even the most obvious details…