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If you ’ ve seen all the things I ’ ve seen your mind would be blown .
Higher education a ‘ sham ’
Ghostwriter sounds the alarm on contract cheating .
By Emilie Lauer
A ghostwriter who has written thousands of essays for students at major Australian universities is highlighting the issue of contract cheating , saying he worries about medical students who have never completed an assignment .
For more than five years , the Kenyan ghostwriter ( who wishes to remain anonymous ) has written student assignments for top Australian universities including The University of Melbourne , the University of South Australia , Sydney University , Macquarie University , the University of Queensland and Curtin University .
He completed student assignments at a bachelor and masters level in health science , psychology , nursing and business administration .
At the time , he was working for Assignment Joy , a Chinese ‘ essay writing ’ company whose principal clients are international students who struggle with English language .
“ It ’ s all kinds of students but the major market is Chinese foreign students ; they ’ re 60 per cent of the entire market ,” the ghostwriter told The Australian .
For struggling students in universities across Britain , Australia , the US , New Zealand and Canada , Assignment Joy offers academic success for as little as $ 120 per thousand words .
Students can buy different types of paper quality , with C Grade being the lowest and costing $ 30 per 250 words , B Grade Pro costing $ 40 per 250 words and A Grade PhD priced at $ 60 .
In each formula , the website guarantees papers to be “ 100 % original ! 100 % punctual ! 100 % superb !” and offers students the opportunity to test their assignments ( at extra cost ) on numerous plagiarism platforms before submitting them .
The Kenyan who has been in business for years says the growing number of cheating students has become a concern , and he is appalled by what he has seen in the tertiary sector which prompted him to label Australian education as a “ sham ”.
“ I have some students who I have worked for since their first year and I ’ ve done all the assignments until they graduate ,” he said .
“ The thing that makes me worried is the medical students who have never done even one assignment since their first day .”
He said students have to order assignments via a WeChat account , the Chinese instant messaging app .
Ghostwriters will then receive various essay requests through the messaging app and can cherry pick the one they are able to handle . The order is then confirmed with an invoice and payment is received bi-monthly .
At Assignment Joy , students can have their academic papers done for them but they can also give their university login details to the ghostwriter who will then handle all the demands of their degree .
The Kenyan said in one case he had logged into a USyd student ’ s online portal , downloaded the course material for the Diet and Nutrition for Health and Sport subject , before doing the student assignment and handing it over .
The website also shares educational material including essential readings and lecture slides .
“ If you ’ ve seen all the things I ’ ve seen your mind would be blown ,” the Kenyan said .
In Australia , about six per cent of students reported having used contract cheating a UniSA survey found , 15 per cent of students reported buying or selling notes and 27 per cent disclosed having completed assignments for others – numbers which have increased since the pandemic and the rise of online learning .
Earlier this year , the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency ( TEQSA ) blocked 40 of the most visited cheating websites by implementing new protocols to enforce Australia ’ s anti-commercial academic cheating laws .
Macquarie University , UniSA , UQ and UniMelb have all put an emphasis on academic integrity as they have seen a surge in contract-cheating during Covid-19 .
The University of Sydney said since 2019 it has seen a spike in “ aggressive activity ” from contract cheating websites , and will thoroughly investigate the particular cases that were disclosed .
“ We take all allegations of academic misconduct seriously , and act on all cases that come to our attention ,” the spokesperson said .
Curtin University , who found one group marketing assignment had been done by Assignment Joy , said they were already aware of the academic cheating website and will deal with the issues under the appropriate misconduct procedures .
A spokeswoman said the university was “ deeply committed ” to academic integrity and will continue to offer help and support to students in need of guidance to complete their papers . ■
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