I graduated with a very real MBA degree in 2010. The degree was a cherry on top for my earlier degree, B.com (Hons.). Both of the degrees promised me a bright future: a decent entry level job with good pay and opportunities for learning, growth and self-development.
During the final-semester exams of my MBA, I did what most of the other graduating fellows would do: hunt down the handful of good employers on the internet, prepare an impressive resume, apply, drop CVs at the big offices, go for trials or offer demos.
None, except Axact offered me a job. I did not know about the company then. I was so impressed by the way they treated their employees that it almost occurred to me a dream come true.
It really is. Apart from the somewhat unethical nature of Axact’s work (will comment on it later), everything you can fantasize as an employee (may be even more) has its reality in Axact. From exotic transportation and lunches to heart-fulfilling pay, perks and bonuses, Axact does not leave a pinch of dissatisfaction as far as compensation for your labor is concerned. Not even a mop man would complain of a poor compensation. The philosophical tenet ‘we value quality human resource’ can be seen in every aspect of Axact’s management.
Now, the ethical part. Yes, Axact does deal in a somewhat unethical (notorious, okay?) business of online education industry. That is, life-time, experience-based online certifications, diplomas and degrees. But before you google it more, let me make it clear that all such stuffs are completely above the board i.e. legal. There is no cyber jurisdiction that can control or prevent it. It is a gray area of the internet business the regulation for which has never been developed by any real, universally accepted educational institutions, boards or accreditation bodies. Why? There is no single universally accepted educational accreditation body!
There is a lot on the internet like this. For example, virtual private networks or VPN services that allow you to bypass the state-registered firewalls cannot easily be prevented by any internet body. This is why you can still watch YouTube and other blocked sites while they are being banned by PTA.
Then there is a whole mess of real or fake online certifications which, to date, have no real value beyond what the organizations accepting it give. O Levels has no real value in USA, for instance. A Pakistani engineering degree is as fake as an Axact’s degree when you submit it to a Canadian state employer. One can get labeled as a medical doctor learning for 5 years in Pakistan in a medical school. In UK, that real MBBS degree won’t get you a GP license.
So friends, before challenging the exact mechanism, legality and applicability of Axact degrees, shouldn’t we be concerned about our own, really-disappointing, worthless degrees? The company at least values the real Pakistani degrees before most others and keeps the lights on for an ever struggling Pakistani employee that works like a slave in most of the other organizations.
Yes, Axact might be playing on higher-education’s failings, but are other corporate giants ethical? Do a little review of the corporate and social brutality of large business organizations in Pakistan and you will see that there are bigger business evils that, unlike Axact, suck the labor of their employees to damage our very own society.
So friends, I would rather criticize the worthlessness of real degrees when the world would whistle against the fake degrees none of which has ever damaged a Pakistani.
P.S.: I left Axact when I could afford ethics. After Axact, I did ethical cleansing of my soul and started working on school textbooks and educational materials. My very real degree (MBA banking and finance) lies in a dusty shelf. No one could value it more than Axact.
My Thoughts, My Life 