Al-Kandari questions education minister on ‘forged’ certificates
Phenomenon a threat to educational institutions
KUWAIT CITY, Sept 27: MP AbdulKareem Al-Kandari has forwarded questions to Minister of Education and Higher Education Mohammed Al-Fares on forged academic certificates
Al-Kandari said the National Assembly has instructed the Education Affairs Committee to investigate the forged certificates that spread recently in the country, especially in Kuwait University and the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training (PAAET).
He pointed out this phenomenon is a threat to educational institutions, indicating the issue is akin to scientific theft and violation of intellectual property rights.
He asserted, “If falsification of academic certificates makes us a fake academy, research theft makes us an academic robber. There is no difference between them, particularly in terms of their impact on the academic performance of students and quality of education.”
He wants to know the number of those convicted of scientific theft or falsification of research works in Kuwait University and PAAET, measures taken against them, if there have been complaints submitted against any of the faculty members in both institutions accused of scientific theft or falsification of researches, what happened to these complaints, if warnings were issued to institutions which assisted the concerned faculty members in committing the aforementioned crimes, if neutral committees were formed to investigate the complaints, members of these committees, results of investigations and other related information.
Meanwhile, MP Majed Al-Mutairi praised the intention of the Public Authority for Food and Nutrition to announce the names of establishments trading in expired food items and their subsidiaries. He considers this a step in the right direction considering the sale of expired food items endangers the health of consumers.
He stressed that such measures will serve as deterrent to those who might be planning to sell expired food items, as they were taken in accordance with the law on establishing the authority.
He hopes the identities of erring food traders will be revealed immediately after the issuance of food control regulations on Dec 1, 2017.