1. Short thread on my thoughts on Jalil Rasheed (ex-PNB CEO) and his UOL / LSE degree.

2. Before I go into the technicalities on the degree, we should ask the bigger question - why did this suddenly become an issue? Was it because of his job performance? Or cos he was asking questions which made certain people uncomfortable? This is more impt than the degree issue.

3. I have not communicated with Jalil on the reason for his PNB departure of the degree. I don't know what he told the PNB board about his degree i.e. did he clarify that it was an external degree offered via a local institutions (HELP)

4. Jalil graduated in 2003. I graduated from LSE in 1998. During this time, HELP College was offering an external UOL / LSE degree. (together with the Sepang Institute of Technology, which doesn't exist anymore).

5. I had a few friends who went through the HELP UOL / LSE degree (3+0). The course offerings & content was the same as what I took at LSE except the course options were more limited. Marking of the papers were also done by external examiners, not by HELP lecturers.

6. I cannot comment on the entry requirements for the HELP UOL / LSE degree but to me, in terms of the course substance, they were the same. A 1st class honors from the HELP UOL / LSE program is equivalent to a 1st class honors from LSE itself from a course material perspective.

7. Below are images for Jalil's degree (not verified but likely to be authentic) & my degree.

Note the similarities: Both are degree awarded by UoL, signed by the director of LSE & the VC of UoL.

8. The difference is the Jali's degree was awarded by UoL "in association with" the LSE and that he was an external student.

Jalil's degree (in fine print) states that the academic standards for his degree is consistent with UoL / LSE standards.

9. At the end of the day, quibbling on whether Jalil actually graduated from LSE or not, is a technical issue that had nothing to do with his job performance as PNB CEO & his job experience.

The scrutiny should be on the real reasons as to why he was asked to resign. (END)