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EDUCATION

Spanish university accused of giving away diplomas to Italian nationals

A Spanish university already accused of gifting degrees to high-profile politicians is also being probed for allegedly giving away diplomas to hundreds of Italian nationals, a court spokesman said Thursday September 20th.

Published: 20 September 2018 16:12 CEST
Spanish university accused of giving away diplomas to Italian nationals
Photo: Kzenon/Depositphotos

A court in Madrid is investigating whether around 500 Italians received express law diplomas from the King Juan Carlos University, the spokesman said. The Italians were granted the degrees despite having little knowledge of Spanish, according to media reports.

In a scandal dubbed “Mastergate”, the university already faces claims of gifting degrees to politicians by allegedly awarding them good grades without them turning up for class.

The allegations forced the resignation of Cristina Cifuentes, former head of the Madrid region, in April and ex-health minister Carmen Monton earlier this month.

The new leader of the conservative Popular Party (PP), Pablo Casado, who has a Master's degree from the university's now-closed Institute of Public Law, is also under fire. 

The court spokesman said Thursday that the latest probe was at a “very early stage.” He said the Italians are thought to have used the degrees to sign up to the Bar Association of Madrid (ICAM) and possibly that of other Spanish cities.

With the diploma – a validation of a Bachelor's degree already done in Italy – and the bar association, they could then practice law in all European Union member states, according to online daily Eldiario.es.

READ ALSO: Italian high schoolers caught on video threatening teacher over grades

This allows aspiring lawyers in Italy to get around the expensive Master's degree usually required in their home country before they are able to practice, it reported.

Citing sources close to the probe, the website said the Italian nationals would make “express” trips to Madrid to pass exams without knowing much Spanish, sometimes taking in a Real Madrid game on their trip.

In a statement, the Bar Association of Madrid told AFP the case was not “attributable to ICAM but to the King Juan Carlos University” and the government

Since the 'mastergate' scandal broke, the university has closed its Institute of Public Law and filed a complaint for alleged misuse of funds involving former director Enrique Alvarez Conde.

Spanish radio Cadena Ser has also revealed that Alvarez and his deputy in the institute allegedly received unexplained money transfers of close to €200,000 ($230,000) between 2012 and May this year.

READ MORE: Italy jails man for selling fake TripAdvisor reviews 

EDUCATION

Sweden’s Social Democrats call for ban on new free schools

Sweden's opposition Social Democrats have called for a total ban on the establishment of new profit-making free schools, in a sign the party may be toughening its policies on profit-making in the welfare sector.

Published: 18 April 2024 16:09 CEST
Sweden's Social Democrats call for ban on new free schools

“We want the state to slam on the emergency brakes and bring in a ban on establishing [new schools],” the party’s leader, Magdalena Andersson, said at a press conference.

“We think the Swedish people should be making the decisions on the Swedish school system, and not big school corporations whose main driver is making a profit.” 

Almost a fifth of pupils in Sweden attend one of the country’s 3,900 primary and secondary “free schools”, first introduced in the country in the early 1990s. 

Even though three quarters of the schools are run by private companies on a for-profit basis, they are 100 percent state funded, with schools given money for each pupil. 

This system has come in for criticism in recent years, with profit-making schools blamed for increasing segregation, contributing to declining educational standards and for grade inflation. 

In the run-up to the 2022 election, Andersson called for a ban on the companies being able to distribute profits to their owners in the form of dividends, calling for all profits to be reinvested in the school system.  

READ ALSO: Sweden’s pioneering for-profit ‘free schools’ under fire 

Andersson said that the new ban on establishing free schools could be achieved by extending a law banning the establishment of religious free schools, brought in while they were in power, to cover all free schools. 

“It’s possible to use that legislation as a base and so develop this new law quite rapidly,” Andersson said, adding that this law would be the first step along the way to a total ban on profit-making schools in Sweden. 

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