Secretary for Education Dr. Uke Kombra is calling on employers in the process of recruiting employees to consult the Measurement Services Division (MSD) of the Department to verify applicant’s school certificates before employing them.
The Secretary made this call in relation to the huge number of teachers caught early this year and terminated by the Department after they were found to have forged their certificates and identities when enrolling in teachers colleges and the recent termination of recruits by the Papua New Guinea Defence Force due to forged school certificates and identities.
“We encourage an education system that is based on fairness, hard work, commitment and natural talent to get an equal footing for everyone. These are the principles that the Department promotes and pursues.
We believe that these practices are also happening in other organisations that are recruiting students for employment, training and or further education and we are willing to offer the Department’ services in order to help stop corruption.”
The Secretary said that the MSD can be contacted by employers to verify school certificates. He also said that the certificates that were issued to students from the years 2018 up have special security features that cannot be copied. However, prior to 2018 and whilst every caution was taken to make the certificates as secured as possible there is no guarantee that certificates cannot be forged using the latest technology available in the country now.
“The Department of Education is offering a free service therefore, I call on employers to feel free to contact the Measurement Service Division through the contact details below to verify grade 10 and 12 school certificates for applicants applying to their organisations,” Dr. Kombra said.
Organisations are also asked to provide a pre-paid postal envelope or forwarding address such as an email address to ensure that the details of verification can be sent back promptly.
Employers, institutions and organisations can contact the Measurement Services Division on telephone number 3288876 to verify grades 10 and 12 certificates, and also via emails: Kuagai_Dua@education.gov.pg or Packiam_Arulappan@education.gov.pg .