Commission rejects fake foreign academic certificates

The 74th session of the National Evaluation Commission for training domains offered abroad (NEC) has met in Yaoundé to examine some 214 certificates from foreign training institutions deposited within the Commission for evaluation and approval.

These certificates mostly of general education include request for equivalences in GCE ordinary and advanced levels, bachelor’s degrees, masters 1 and 2, doctorates and PhD degrees. Other demands for equivalence in the professional and technical domains such as health technicians, engineers, medical doctors, pharmacists and post and telecommunications administrators were equally examined.

The certificates noted to have come from 25 different countries across Africa, Europe and America saw for the first time the increase in the number of French certificates. others came from South Africa, Germany, Benin, Burkina Faso, Canada, Ivory Coast, Gabon, Great Britain, France, Italy, Madagascar, Mali, morocco, Nigeria, Central Africa republic, Congo, Russia, Rwanda, Senegal, Switzerland, Chad ,Togo, Tunisia, Ukraine and USA.

Four of the 214 certificates were identified to be fake and consequently rejected.

The Minister of Higher Education, Chancellor of the Academic Orders and chair of the commission, who presided over the workshop, said the activities of the commission is to facilitate the integration of foreign certificate owners within the ranks of Cameroon academic and professional orders, and the public service.

To make this task easier, he said, the working sessions of the commission have been increased from two to four per year, and a technical service at the Ministry of Higher Education put in place where these certificates are deposited. This service is charged to receive the certificates and collect all other necessary information needed for their evaluation before forwarding them over to NEC.

NEC, whose vice presidency is occupied by the Ministry of Public Service and Administrative Reforms, is an inter-ministerial forum that makes proposals on the equivalences between foreign and national certificates, academic titles and grades, as well as on the recognition of foreign institutions whose certificates can lead to the integration, reclassification or advancement of civil servants of the various domains of the Cameroon civil service in keeping with the rules and regulations that apply.