The Maldives Parliament is seeking a sit down with the Maldives Qualification Authority (MQA) to go over the challenges in countering fake or forged academic credentials.
North-Galolhu parliamentarian Mohamed ‘Kudoo’ Ibrahim sent a letter, addressed to the Speaker of the Parliament, Abdul Raheem Abdulla. In his letter, the MP highlighted prevailing challenges in effectively combatting forgeries in relation to academic certificates.
Major issues highlighted in the letter include:
- Students receive only symbolic certification without academia
- Subjects taught in unauthenticated programs do not meet criteria of the international academic standards
- Employees lack practical knowledge despite academic credentials
- Employers’ lack of confidence towards freshly graduating batches
- Expenditure on obtaining unauthentic or worthless degrees result in significant financial loss
- Loss of confidence in the Maldivian education sector and ineligibility of Maldivian-issued certificates internationally
The MP’s letter further highlights counteractive measures both MQA and students can take against forged certificates.
The endorsing MP is seeking, through the parliament, to analyze the challenges MQA continuously face in combatting forged certificates and open dialogue to propose countermeasures.
This new development in the Maldivian education sector comes hot in the heels of Avid College, a local tertiary education provider, coming under fire for issuing certificates to unregistered students recently.