By Ebi Kesiena
The Libyan government has commenced the verification of academic certificates held by employees across ministries, government departments and public institutions as part of efforts to tackle the use of forged qualifications in the public sector.
The move follows a directive issued by the country’s Attorney General, Al-Siddiq Al-Sour, to ministries, heads of government agencies, authorities and public institutions, outlining procedures linked to ongoing investigations into the widespread use of fake academic certificates.
According to the directive, public institutions have been instructed to ensure that appointments and employment contracts are limited to individuals whose qualifications were obtained from accredited private universities and institutes that meet the country’s official quality assurance standards.
The Attorney General said the official register published by the National Center for Quality Assurance and Accreditation of Educational and Training Institutions would serve as the only recognised reference for verifying the accreditation status of educational institutions and their academic programmes.
Under the new verification exercise, academic qualifications will only be recognised if both the issuing institution and the academic programme were duly accredited at the time the certificate was awarded.
The directive further stated that certificates issued by institutions or academic programmes not included on the official accreditation list, or whose accreditation had expired before the certificates were issued, would not be accepted.
The verification exercise forms part of a broader government crackdown on forged academic credentials as authorities intensify efforts to safeguard the integrity of Libya’s public service and ensure that only properly qualified individuals are employed in government institutions.
