Expat employees must authenticate degrees or face termination

KUWAIT: The Civil Service Commission (CSC) received several notes from the State Audit Bureau about the mechanism of employee appointments and approving financial allowances for those having university degrees. It called for immediate action towards these notes in order to save public funds and protect the administrative apparatus from forgers, be they citizens or expats.

Informed sources said the CSC began practical measures to deal with the remarks, as it issued a circular to government departments asking all Kuwaiti and expatriate employees must submit their degrees and certificates after being approved by concerned authorities to prove they are authentic. They said this circular include Kuwaitis' degrees received from abroad, be they diplomas, graduate or postgraduate degrees, as well as expats who were appointed based on their degrees without being approved by the ministry of higher education.

The sources said the CSC started by asking expat employees to go to the ministry of higher education to authenticate their degrees, and those who do not do so will be terminated. They said the CSC will appoint teams to follow the approved certificates in coordination with government bodies and the ministry of higher education, including for employees who were previously appointed. Sources expected next year will see many decisions to terminate expat employees for not submitting authenticated certificates and the cancellation of allowance from Kuwaitis who received them because of bogus certificates or those issued by unrecognized universities.

By A Saleh