Certificate fraud: Master's degree in just 15 days

An investigative report in Arabic daily Emarat Al Youm has alleged that some private education institutes in Dubai are issuing fraudulent certificates to its students.

According to the repot the institutes in question grant educational certificates and academic degrees to students within just a few days of them enrolling.

According to the report, the institutes provide a consultant and expert certificate across subjects within four days and a master’s degree in 15 days of enrollment.

The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research has warned against joining such institutions and the Knowledge and Human Development Authority in Dubai (KHDA) will act against such institutions and take strict punitive measures if found guilty.

Asma’a bin Dalmouk, head of permits, KHDA, confirmed that the KHDA monitored institutes providing degrees.

She added the KHDA has discovered violations after a significant number of complaints recently received.

Based on the complaints, the KHDA suspended the activities of four institutes.

The KHDA canceled the licences in coordination with the Department of Economic Development in Dubai.

The KHDA has also recently rejected requests for the opening of new training institutes because its programmes contained invalid educational curricula.

Bin Dalmouk pointed out that as a result of intensive publicity by these institutions, not only students and staff from within the UAE, but also from neighbouring countries were cheated.

She mentioned that there are 499 training institutes authorised by the body in Dubai and it is in the process of issuing the permit for 250 educational training institutes in one of the free zones during the current year.

Abu Omar an employee of a government department in Dubai said he got 30 degree certificates in different subjects from institutes in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Most notable were certificates of experience in quality excellence, leadership and management for which he paid Dh120,000.

He confirmed that he sought to obtain the certificates to help develop his career, but was surprised when he found that the certificates are not accredited within the UAE and do not have any official status.

Ahmed Al-Qahtani one of the employees in a government department in Dubai says that he was the victim of fraud by a training institute in Dubai.

Maher Mohamed Gabr, another government employee, said he learned from the errors of his colleagues and friends who fell victim to these institutes and before joining his institute, he asked for their license to be shown.

[Image via Shutterstock]

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