The Kingdom’s security authorities recently reported that 620 employees in almost a dozen government departments had forged their academic qualifications, whether degrees or diplomas. Among those with forged qualifications is an undersecretary in a ministry which shows that the problem is found at the highest levels.

Forgers in the past have usually favored medical and engineering jobs but recently, fake qualifications have been found in other sectors as well. Courts have been examining a large number of cases against spurious degree holders who committed serious medical and engineering errors.

A study conducted by the former Ministry of Higher Education said more than 51,000 degree certificates, including postgraduate, doctorate and bachelor degrees in various disciplines, are being used currently in the Kingdom. Some social networking sites recently reported that Riyadh police had arrested an Arab expatriate holding a key executive position in a prominent government department. It has also been reported that Yanbu police arrested an Asian nurse who had been working in a clinic more than 10 years with a forged certificate.

“Authorities will soon set up a system to deal with Saudi degree forgers as the recently issued regulations deal only with non-Saudi ones,” said Maj. Gen. Muhammad Al-Maraol, director general of the General Administration of Relations and Guidance at the Interior Ministry.

According to regulations, expatriates who are found guilty of counterfeiting educational certificates in the Kingdom will be prosecuted, imprisoned, deported and not allowed to return, Al-Maraol said.

Lawyer Muhammad Al-Sulaiman pointed out that the Interior Ministry had recently issued directives for dealing with forged qualifications. The directives aim to protect the public since forged qualifications can result in great harm and possible loss of life. The Control and Investigation Bureau will have the jurisdiction and will investigate and indict any suspects.

“A list of all degree holders in the Kingdom with forged qualifications was drafted but was not published as the Interior Ministry issued directives to prosecute all those who are involved in forging diplomas and degrees,” said Hamad Al-Shaqawi, chairman of the Saudi Council of Engineers (SCE). “Nearly 1,700 false degrees were found by the council, though only 10 percent of them belonged to Saudis.”

He said some east Asian countries were the major sources of spurious degrees. “Fake degrees kill people and destroy professions. Up to the end of last year, the council registered 191,735 engineers in the professional accreditation program. Only 6.77 percent of them were Saudis,” he said, adding that the government stipulates that only engineers accredited by the SCE will be allowed to take up engineering jobs in the Kingdom.