The competition would now seem to be so great that that an increasing number of parents are being investigated over suspected admissions fraud after attempting to cheat to get children into the best schools. As a result many parents are being accused of submitting false addresses in the catchment areas of the most sought-after schools.
Councils would now appear to be bringing in the heavy guns of their own, Private Detectives and forensic experts now being employed in the ‘hunt’ to track down fraud. Parents and children are now being followed, filmed, recorded and photographed with the sole purpose of documenting their true home.
The problem is not new and neither is it specific to this particular region.
As confirmed by the provincial delegate of Education of the Andalusian Regional Government, Francisco Maldonado, it reappears every year with “some 40 complaints currently being investigated over alleged irregularities in the awarding of a school place, the majority concentrated in Almeria, Roquetas de Mar and El Ejido.”
The fraud arises primarily in the declaration of a child’s residence. Many parents choose to register their child with relatives or friends so that they can be closer to the school of thir choice, so they get more points on the scales of applications which increases their chances of getting a place.
“Every time that we receive a complaint, we ask the local police in the municipality to investigate whether the people actually live at the address they have declared, ” says Francisco Maldonado. “If not, the child immediately receives zero points.”
But the local police do not have the resources to make detailed investigations, and that’s where the private detectives come in. One local newspaper managed to gain access to dossiers prepared by a private detective operating in Almeria who says that he has been carrying out investigations of this nature for five years.
“The price varies depending on the case, though on average I will charge about 300 euros for every family that I investigate (regardless of whether they are found to be cheating or not).”
“I have come to investigate up to 80 cases at a time, 40 from the same school of the capital,” he says.
In his office has a cupboard full of cameras, microphones, uniforms, wigs and other accessories; he has folders on his desk piled with references to censuses, addresses, car registrations, entry and exit times, everything he might need to help him substantiate or reject a claim.
http://liarcatchers.com/studentresidency.html
“The most common evidence that I find is the use of relatives’ addresses – normally grandparents with the same surname –which is among the most common scam by parents attempting to play the system,” he says.
Other families have been found renting homes close to the best schools or even swapping houses with friends.
