Private education institutions in Singapore that use misleading adverts for their courses may fall foul of a new government code that takes effect in July 2012. The Council for Private Education (CPE) has set up the code in order to protect prospective students from false advertising.

Out of the many new requirements, one in particular states that adverts must not contain false or misleading claims about the partnering institution they are tied to, and another rule states that course fees must be advertised transparently. Institutions must also provide documentary proof of any claims stated in adverts, and they must also not try to discredit any other institution.

With 60 cases of false advertising by private education institutions investigated by the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) since 2009, CASE Executive Director Seah Seng Choon states: “We do not want our consumers to be misled…and very often if the consumer is misled, there is a possibility that they may not even recover their fees”. Such claims investigated include those that falsely advertise a degree, or claiming that a degree comes from a top university, with no proof to back up the claim.

Institutions that continue to put out misleading adverts face strict penalties, such as hefty fines, or even imprisonment.

For full details on the new code, please visit here.