Recently, a reader sent us a message, saying that a Scientologist member of her family was posting to Facebook some promotional items about a “Certified Online Academy International” that provides materials for homeschoolers and is a member of “Cambridge International Education.”
She was suspicious about it, and reached out to us.
Sure enough, COA International was started by a man named Vladimir Krasniakov, who describes himself as a former teacher at Greenfields School.
He’s an OT Scientologist, and Greenfields, of course, is the notorious Scientology school that Claire Headley attended as a child and that Alex Barnes-Ross exposed for not keeping up its standards and that was subsequently stripped of its ability to host foreign students.
Greenfields is the UK’s original “Applied Scholastics” school, the curriculum devised by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, and this new offshoot COA International indicates on its website that it is associated with Greenfields and uses Applied Scholastics materials.
But this is what makes it especially interesting: We already know that Scientology for decades has used something they call the “Oxford Capacity Analysis,” which they claim is a “personality test,” and is often the way people initially encounter the church. And we know that the “Oxford” in the title is simply a marketing tool, and the OCA has nothing to do with Oxford University.
It has long been a comfort knowing that Oxford was too smart to get caught up in L. Ron Hubbard’s nonsense.
But what about COA International claiming to be a part of Cambridge International Education, which is associated with Cambridge University? Could that actually be true?
Well, we emailed CIE this week and asked them this question. They got back to us and said yes, “COA International is an approved Cambridge online school registered to offer our qualifications.”
Wow.
Alex has helped us understand how these Cambridge online schools work (apparently parents around the world use them to try and get their kids into good schools, not just Cambridge), but what we wanted was to hear from Claire, who went to Greenfields as a child before going into the Sea Org after signing a billion-year contract, promising to serve Hubbard and Scientology for lifetime after lifetime.
How did she feel knowing that Cambridge University is lending its credibility to a Scientology front run by a former teacher from Greenfields?
“Wow. Insanity! Greenfields School was the last official ‘school’ I ever attended, from ages 10 to 13,” she says. “It was staffed largely by former Sea Org and Guardian’s Office members — exactly the same pattern seen at Delphi, the U.S. Scientology school system. Scientology’s procedures and programming ran deep. Students were frequently subjected to Sea Org recruiters and pressured to take Scientology courses.
“As is so often the case, it is both shocking and disturbing to see accredited and legitimate organizations fall for Scientology’s front-group tactics. These tactics are deliberately designed to lure unsuspecting families into the claws of the Scientology cult, while also leveraging the credibility of respected institutions to present themselves as valid.
“I would strongly encourage anyone who has ever attended a Scientology-affiliated school to contact Cambridge International Education directly and share their experiences, both of the ‘education’ itself and of the abusive practices tied to Scientology.
“What does this say about Cambridge International Education’s screening and vetting process — or even their basic ability to Google the organizations they lend their name to? This is an egregious misstep, and people deserve to be made aware of it immediately.”
Alex agrees. “I think if Cambridge were to know of this school’s close ties to the Church of Scientology — an organisation Lord Justice Latey ruled in 1984 was ‘dangerous and harmful, especially to children’ — they would be appalled. Their registration alone brings the examining board, and by extension the University, into disrepute.”
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Cambridge University would have made a great 'mark' for Bernie Madoff. Loaning your good name to a scam makes you a scammer. I have no idea what review process was used to garner the University's stamp of approval, but I have to suspect some kick back or 'origination fee' was involved. Greed over 'ethics' is a time honored human activity.
Thank you, unknown Reader. You helped whack the $cieno mole and have forewarned others.
As an educator, I believe this is an appalling example of how universities of higher education often align themselves with educational practices and curriculum from "for profit" entities that make claims of success with students.
Claire's advice to contact the organization directly to report abuses and Scientology practices is sage advice. She has first-hand knowledge of how these schools operate and endanger children.