Editor-in-Chief  Prof. Badria A. Al-Awadi

‏The issue of forgery of scientific and academic certificates is raised from time to time. As the issue continues to receive great importance to the extent of occupying newspapers’ headlines, social media and the interests of large sectors of societies, it has become a public opinion issue. It also receives the attention of legislators, administrators and politicians, and is dealt with through legal procedures, by putting the Public Prosecution Office and the administrative bodies in charge of searching, investigating and submitting reports on the matter as well as referring the issue to the judiciary.
‏There is no doubt that this interest in certificates and their value is mainly due to/stems from the fact that receiving education at all levels and specializations, especially scientific ones, has become the main method through which nations and states develop and advance. This is reflected in the annual budgets allocated for that purpose and the rapid developments in the fields of academic and technical research, which enable the holders of these certificates to obtain excellent career opportunities. This broad interest in certificates also finds its roots in the way society, in its various sectors, views these academic certificates with recognition, respect and importance as one of the basic qualifications for students, researchers and graduates, besides experience and competence, to assume managerial and leadership positions in vital sectors of society. This positive perspective has prevailed for a long time and continues to prevail, without diminishing under the effect of the inefficiency of some holders of these certificates, or the attempts at forgery that appears from time to time. This explains the increasing demand in different societies to pursue tertiary education in order to achieve academic attainment, specialization and to obtain the highest academic certificates.
‏Given this role and its importance, countering the attempts of the weak-spirited to forge certificates, which unfortunately have taken various forms in recent years, is not limited to the criminal aspect of prosecuting counterfeiting and direct forgery as a legal and moral crime, but goes beyond it to take multiple forms, such as deterring and combatting the emergence of educational and university institutions that function as “certificate shops,” which are tolerated in some developing countries for economic and commercial reasons.
‏Therefore, countries that believe in the role of education in building their present and future are always keen to preserve the integrity and efficiency of certificates. This is carried out by developing, evaluating and reviewing courses and curricula as well as through following up and monitoring the performance and procedures of public and private educational institutions and providing them with appropriate conditions and resources, guaranteeing in the end the quality and efficiency of academic training and meeting the growing and specialized needs of the vital sectors of society. These countries also establish academic institutions and bodies with competent experts and specialists, to evaluate, follow-up and set strict standards for accrediting certificates and the awarding universities. The State of Kuwait has adopted and still adopts this approach, from an early time, at the legislative, governmental and educational levels. This has contributed to preserving the educational status and academic certificates and has contributed to the expansion and spread of public and private educational institutions alike.
‏This approach has taken a global turn that was tied to the increasing number of universities and institutes of higher education that offer modern specialties in order to keep up with the economic and technical developments taking place in the modern world, resulting in the emergence of international quality and academic accreditation bodies that work on auditing academic curricula, decisions and procedures, on the basis of which certificates are awarded.
‏The responsibility of enhancing the status of academic degrees and accentuating their impact and role is not limited to official and international institutions. Rather, educational institutions, private and public, at all levels, are required to play a positive role in enhancing the training of those enrolled in them by providing them with academic literacy that is comprehensive and specialized. In addition, this vital role involves empowering them with the skills, values and ethics of academic research, training and assisting with integrating them in relevant academic and professional societies. Thus, what is required in regard to the issue of scientific and academic certificates is beyond reliability and credibility, but rather quality and efficiency, in a way that constitutes a basis for their holders to start working and gaining practical experience and facilitates their contribution to their field of specialty.