Kuwait Imposes Stricter Rules to Counter Fake Qualification Certificates

In Kuwait’s bid to strengthen its labour quality across all sectors, the Government through the Ministry of Health has set stricter policies in screening all individuals who aim to join Kuwait’s labour force.

Last July 24 (Monday), Kuwait’s Ministry of Health (MoH) organized a working committee that will be tasked to examine graduate and post-graduate certificates of staff, both Kuwaitis and expatriates, particularly those which have been acquired through non-scholarship means.

Kuwait Sets Tighter Rules to Screen Fake Qualification Certificates

To chair the said committee is Undersecretary Dr. Mustafa Redha. The committee will be tasked to authenticate the certificate of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, technicians, and other administrative staff, who aim to work in the public health sector of Kuwait.

The MoH will be coordinating with the Ministry of Higher Education to verify the authenticity of the certificates in question. According to the Ministry of Health, they would impose legal actions against any individual found to have forged a certificate.

The decision to enforce stricter rules comes from several incidences of Kuwaitis and expats holding government posts and businesses in the country with fake academic certificates.

Current investigations have identified more than 10 fake doctorate certificates obtained by Kuwaitis who work in the government sector. Four more people are being investigated on as these individuals were noted to hold departmental positions in a ministry. These individuals have already been blacklisted and banned from travelling overseas, as they have been issued a warrant of arrest by Kuwaiti authorities.

In 2016, news erupted regarding the issue of individuals mostly working in the private sector have been found to possess fake university certificates based on two reports published by the New York Times. Out of the 3,142 individuals identified to possess such documents in the Gulf State, 278 of them were found to be working in Kuwait. Unfortunately, the Director General of the National Bureau for Academic Accreditation and Education Quality Assurance at the time, Prof. Nouria Al-Awadi, confirmed the validity of these reports.

Al-Awadi called for the legislative body of Kuwait to develop laws to enforce the work done by her department to strengthen fact-finding procedures to address the issue and to enforce necessary violations against violators.