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- Feb 11, 2007
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Bogus certificates: Start from the top!
Adam Lusekelo
Daily News; Tuesday,September 30, 2008 @20:01
SOME smart Bongo guys from the National Examination Council of Tanzania (Necta) have surfaced with an ingenious way of making an extra buck -- selling fake certificates.
The Necta chaps put their bongos together and decided there is money to be made from their boring jobs. They are using the old Tanzanian adage: "When things get tough, you don't get angry just get smarter."
So they decided to be a bit more creative at Necta. Legions are flunking in exams and those legions need certificates to get jobs. So the creative guys at Necta reasoned that they will make certificates for the failures. A certificate can be yours if you flunked in your O or A levels. Provided, that is, you are ready to part with about $300.
In some brilliant piece of investigative journalism a local hack, Mkinga Mkinga, got himself a certificate showing that he sat for his Form Six examination at Jitegemee Secondary School- Dar es Salaam in 2004, and scored a Division Two of 10 points, the highest, in the National Examination, assuring him an automatic admission to a public university.
The certificate, No. 074631, shows that he scored two Bs in History and Geography, a C in English and a Subsidiary in General Studies. The hacks contact said there was nothing to worry about as the person who had originally been issued with that certificate was dead.
The syndicate earns the crooks good money from charges of the certificates which range from $300 to up to a $1500 depending on the pass mark you want and the urgency with which one wants the document.
The expose has vindicated widespread concern among the public and academic circles that many people are fraudulently obtaining fake or stolen certificates to gain entry to university or land plum jobs in banks and other private companies and parastatals.
The findings come barely two weeks since Necta announced that some 6,000 certificates have been stolen from their offices.
Officialdom knows about the scandal. The Minister for Education and Vocational Training, Prof Jumanne Maghembe has said that the problem, which is bound to undermine confidence in the education system, is getting out of hand unless immediate steps are taken to stamp it out.
The high incidence of fake academic certificates being used by people looking for jobs is just a tip of an iceberg and could impact adversely on professionals. he has said.
Prof Maghembe has said that the government is contemplating drastic measure as a means to curb forged school certificates to gain admissions to universities and other institutions of higher learning and obtain jobs. Critics doubt if the government really means to come down hard on fake certificate dealers.
The Parliament itself has reportedly come under nationwide scrutiny with a rash of questionable PhDs claimed by a good number of MPs.
It is easy to tell the real PhDs from the fakes in Parliament. Just wait till when they open their mouths and you will know, said one critic of the Tanzanian education system.
He suggested that if there should be a thorough evaluation of Tanzanias education system, then it should start from the top.
In May, the Necta Executive Secretary, Dr Joyce Ndalichako, told reporters that of the 8,421 students who sat for the Grade A teachers exams countrywide, 529 had their results cancelled because their secondary school certificates were found to be fake. Besides the racket in fake certificates, the council is also grappling with problems of cheating in national examinations.
In a teachers' college in Tanga, of 658 candidates who enrolled for the studies in 2006 nearly half were found to have gained college entry using fake documents.
Last week, eight employees of the Bank of Tanzania were charged in a Dar es Salaam court forusing forged certificates to obtain jobs. They denied the charges and were granted bail. Ring a bell?
Mbwene2@yahoo.com
Adam Lusekelo
Daily News; Tuesday,September 30, 2008 @20:01
SOME smart Bongo guys from the National Examination Council of Tanzania (Necta) have surfaced with an ingenious way of making an extra buck -- selling fake certificates.
The Necta chaps put their bongos together and decided there is money to be made from their boring jobs. They are using the old Tanzanian adage: "When things get tough, you don't get angry just get smarter."
So they decided to be a bit more creative at Necta. Legions are flunking in exams and those legions need certificates to get jobs. So the creative guys at Necta reasoned that they will make certificates for the failures. A certificate can be yours if you flunked in your O or A levels. Provided, that is, you are ready to part with about $300.
In some brilliant piece of investigative journalism a local hack, Mkinga Mkinga, got himself a certificate showing that he sat for his Form Six examination at Jitegemee Secondary School- Dar es Salaam in 2004, and scored a Division Two of 10 points, the highest, in the National Examination, assuring him an automatic admission to a public university.
The certificate, No. 074631, shows that he scored two Bs in History and Geography, a C in English and a Subsidiary in General Studies. The hacks contact said there was nothing to worry about as the person who had originally been issued with that certificate was dead.
The syndicate earns the crooks good money from charges of the certificates which range from $300 to up to a $1500 depending on the pass mark you want and the urgency with which one wants the document.
The expose has vindicated widespread concern among the public and academic circles that many people are fraudulently obtaining fake or stolen certificates to gain entry to university or land plum jobs in banks and other private companies and parastatals.
The findings come barely two weeks since Necta announced that some 6,000 certificates have been stolen from their offices.
Officialdom knows about the scandal. The Minister for Education and Vocational Training, Prof Jumanne Maghembe has said that the problem, which is bound to undermine confidence in the education system, is getting out of hand unless immediate steps are taken to stamp it out.
The high incidence of fake academic certificates being used by people looking for jobs is just a tip of an iceberg and could impact adversely on professionals. he has said.
Prof Maghembe has said that the government is contemplating drastic measure as a means to curb forged school certificates to gain admissions to universities and other institutions of higher learning and obtain jobs. Critics doubt if the government really means to come down hard on fake certificate dealers.
The Parliament itself has reportedly come under nationwide scrutiny with a rash of questionable PhDs claimed by a good number of MPs.
It is easy to tell the real PhDs from the fakes in Parliament. Just wait till when they open their mouths and you will know, said one critic of the Tanzanian education system.
He suggested that if there should be a thorough evaluation of Tanzanias education system, then it should start from the top.
In May, the Necta Executive Secretary, Dr Joyce Ndalichako, told reporters that of the 8,421 students who sat for the Grade A teachers exams countrywide, 529 had their results cancelled because their secondary school certificates were found to be fake. Besides the racket in fake certificates, the council is also grappling with problems of cheating in national examinations.
In a teachers' college in Tanga, of 658 candidates who enrolled for the studies in 2006 nearly half were found to have gained college entry using fake documents.
Last week, eight employees of the Bank of Tanzania were charged in a Dar es Salaam court forusing forged certificates to obtain jobs. They denied the charges and were granted bail. Ring a bell?
Mbwene2@yahoo.com
