Certificate fraud: FG, NYSC move to link education records

Nigeria is moving to connect education records with the National Youth Service Corps in a bid to tackle certificate racketeering and stop genuine graduates from losing opportunities because of faulty records.

Education Minister Tunji Alausa announced the plan during a meeting in Abuja with NYSC Director-General Brig. Gen. Olakunle Nafiu and a delegation from the Corps. He said the digital reforms under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda would close gaps in the management and verification of qualifications.

Alausa said the Nigerian Education Repository Data Bank was collecting and verifying university certificates, tracking learners and supporting tertiary institutions through help-desk officers. The Nigerian Education Data Infrastructure would connect records from different stages of a learner’s education, while the ministry’s Education Support Services, including certificate verification and procedures for foreign applicants, had been digitised end to end.

“

The digital transformation of Nigeria’s education system under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda is strengthening the integrity of academic qualifications, tackling certificate racketeering and ensuring that genuine students and graduates are not disadvantaged.

“Discussions were ongoing with the NYSC on an application programming interface that would facilitate faster verification and seamless exchange of relevant data between both institutions,” Alausa said. He identified discrepancies in names, problems affecting graduates of part-time National Diploma programmes and the admission of National Certificate in Education holders into Higher National Diploma programmes as issues requiring urgent attention.

The ministry plans to work with the National Board for Technical Education, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, the National Identity Management Commission and other agencies. The proposed national Learner Identification Number and a common framework for recording names would establish accurate identity records from the start of a learner’s educational journey. Alausa said the system would reduce discrepancies that later affect graduates.

“

Discussions were ongoing with the NYSC on an application programming interface that would facilitate faster verification and seamless exchange of relevant data between both institutions.