Africa-Press – Kenya. The Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission has requested education stakeholders to join in and fight rampant cases of forgery in academia.
If not curbed, the trend poses a threat to the integrity of the country’s education system and compromises the values of public service.
In a circular to the leadership of higher education institutions, the EACC said there is need to seek a long-lasting solution to the dishonesty.
The Commission through Deputy CEO Abdi Mohamud gave suggestions on how the habit of forging certificates can be eradicated in Kenya’s education system.
Among them is the establishment and operationalisation of mechanisms to ensure the authenticity of academic records submitted by applicants to various graduate and post graduate programs.
“Where such mechanisms exist, measures should be put in place to strengthen them and make the verification system foolproof,” Mohamud said.
The circular was copied to chairpersons of University Councils, University vice Chancellors, Academic Registrars, Commission for Education CEO, Kenya National Qualification Authority CEO and KNEC CEO.
Mohamud added that institutions should interlink the systems used to archive academic records to ensure they are easily accessible for verification by other academic institutions, government agencies and law enforcement bodies.
EACC further requested the stakeholders to collaborate and innovatively adopt measures that will help deter the forgery and falsification of academic papers.
“Please apprise us of the measures considered in implementing this advisory,” Mohamud said, assuring the stakeholders of the Commission’s support.
EACC said in its line of work, it has noted that majority of the irregularities include alteration of KCSE grades to enable individuals to gain admission into graduate and postgraduate study programmes.
“There have also been cases of alteration of names on authentic certificates for the person to apply for admission or employment,” the EACC said.
The Commission also said there were occasions where documents have vanished from file or admission records of students, making it difficult for law enforcement to conduct investigations.
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