KUWAIT CITY, April 17: The Service Bureau has intensified its scrutiny of the academic and professional certificates held by citizen and resident employees acquired after January 1, 2000. This move comes in the wake of the fourth annual report of the anti-corruption strategy for the year 2023 issued by the Anti-Corruption Authority "Nazaha," which highlighted a decrease in forged university and professional certificates thanks to the implementation of anti-counterfeiting measures.

According to the report issued last March, while there has been a decrease in forgery cases since the implementation of the anti-counterfeiting mechanism in university and professional certificates, there has been a notable increase in the number of forged certificates monitored by the Ministry of Education. In 2023 alone, the ministry detected four cases, compared to two cases in 2022.

The Civil Service Commission has also taken action by sending official letters to all ministries and government agencies under its supervision, requesting comprehensive data on the higher educational certificates of all employees, citizens, and residents alike.

The letters, titled "Examination of Educational Certificates for Citizen and Resident Employees," were issued in response to directives from the Prime Minister, the Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs, and the Minister of State for National Assembly Affairs. These directives were based on the final report of the committee tasked with evaluating the Ministry of Higher Education's work regarding academic certificate equivalency.

The Service Bureau aims to compile a list of employees holding qualifications above high school obtained since January 1, 2000 and has requested government agencies to provide copies of academic qualifications, including specialization, university of issuance, country of issuance, and certificate equivalency.

In line with these efforts, a tripartite committee, formed by the Council of Ministers to examine the certificates of all government agency employees, has requested basic data from the Service Bureau to facilitate its audit and review of questionable certificates.

Additionally, parliamentary proposals have been tabled to amend existing laws to prohibit the use of non-equivalent academic certificates in government agency employment, further emphasizing the importance of ensuring the integrity of academic qualifications in the public sector.