Degree mills on the rise

Many prominent citizens including government officials have fake degrees, sources say

In his upcoming play ‘Zamana Kharaab Hai’, Bahraini director Hussain Al Owainati highlights the issue of fake degrees, which reflects the real situation in the Kingdom, where even prominent members of the society buy degrees for dinars. Fake degrees have become a matter of big worry in the Kingdom with many opting it against hard work and acquiring knowledge.

In the past three years, over 1,000 students were suspended from different universities in the Kingdom because they had obtained their basic qualifications through fraudulent means. According to the figures issued by the General Organisation for Social Insurance, there are 1,408 Bahrainis who hold postgraduate or doctoral degrees and work with the government, and 5,613 equally qualified foreigners working in the public sector earning an average monthly salary of BD1466.And sources say a good number of them could be holding fake certificates as there no proper mechanism to verify their degrees, especially those from abroad.

The authorities in the Kingdom have begun a clean-up drive following a similar campaign by Kuwaiti authorities against fake-degree holders. The Council of Higher Education has decided to ban the Master of Business Administration offered by the Arab Open University following claims of serious fraud.

The Council has ordered to refer all those who are engaged in the forgery of certificates to the Public Prosecution to penalise them in accordance with the Bahrain Penal Code. Speaking to Tribune, Wahib Al Nasser, University of Bahrain Vice-President for Academic Programmes and Graduate Studies, said, “All certificates, especially that of professionals should be strictly attested by the embassies concerned. This seems to be the only way to prevent fraud.”