Thousands of fake certificates have been sold from the Bangladesh Technical Education Board (BTEB) in exchange for money. Many people are working at home and abroad in subjects like engineering, textile engineering, agriculture, fisheries, livestock, forestry, medical technology by buying those fake certificates; while others are studying at the university.
Basically, a class of officials and employees of the BTEB have sold fake certificates in the last decade in exchange for money. About 30,000 fake certificates of computer education have been issued where thousands of MPO-affiliated teachers have also been included in that certificate.
Fake certificates were made and the result information was uploaded to the BTEB's server. As a result, the way to understand was whether the certificate was fake or real. This information is known from the sources of BTEB.
According to the sources, an unscrupulous circle formed syndicates across the country to sell fake certificates. The fake certificates were sold from the BTEB for only Tk 35,000 to Tk 50,000. But the brokers used to take a minimum of Tk 2 lakh from the buyers.
There are about 50 people in the whole syndicate. Among them, there are officials and employees of the BTEB and the headmasters, principals, teachers, officers, directors and employees of various technical education institutions.
An investigation into the fake certificates is currently underway and two people have already been arrested. According to the information provided by them, thousands of stolen original certificates and blank copies of mark-sheets, transcripts, bio-data, important documents were recovered from the board, including a large number of fake certificates.
The sources said that the unscrupulous circle related to the BTEB has embezzled huge money by selling fake certificates. The involved influential are still out of reach.
It was known that basically, if a candidate could not score or failed in the examination, the examinee would go to the syndicate created by the technical institution. Then he deposited the required bribe money and took the certificate of choice. Someone may get a CGPA-2 score by taking the test. If the money was paid, it would have been CGPA-3. Later, the score certificate was also uploaded online. The certificate was given in such a way that there would be no chance of holding it in a thick spot.
Although the misdeeds started from 2007, it has increased greatly since 2012. Principals of several technical educational institutions across the country are involved in the group.
Sources further said that the BTEB has been validating fake certificates for a long time. They used to protect the holders of fake certificates without giving information to various government agencies to verify the certificates.
The Directorate of Inspection and Audit (DIA) of Institutions under the Ministry of Education verifies the educational qualifications, legality of appointment and academic certificates of MPO teachers in private educational institutions. The institution has identified thousands of teachers with fake certificates in the last decade and recommended action against them.
Recently, a report was sent from the DIA to the Ministry of Education regarding fake certificates. There was information about fake certificates of 1,156 teachers. Of these, 296 computer education certificates are fake. Most of which have been taken from the BTEB.
In the first week of October, the Department of Secondary and Higher Education published a list of 202 teachers who worked with fake certificates. There are allegations that the BTEB does not help to verify the charter. When asked to verify the certificates of thousands of teachers in a long decade, the technical board verified some nominal certificates.
Not only that, despite sending letters several times, there was no response from the BTEB. Computer training certificates are a large part of the fake certificates created from the BTEB. The certificate is compulsory to be included in the MPO for the post of ICT teacher in the educational institution.
The government made it mandatory for every school in 2011 to have a computer teacher. Besides, computer certificates are very important for studies or jobs outside the country. On this occasion, various institutions under the Technical Board started selling certificates in the name of various short-term courses on ICT. And the technical board validates those certificates. The new teachers took jobs in the educational institution by showing the certificate and later became MPO by showing it. More than 500,000 teachers and employees are working in about 36,000 MPO-affiliated institutions across the country. Of these, there are about 28,000 computer teachers. Most of them are working with fake certificates.
A former Chairman of the BTEB said declined to his name that if the certificate passed from any private institution was sent for verification, it would disappear from the branch. Some, however, would have reached the concerned branch or the secretary's office. After that, there was no trace of the letter.
The chairman of the BTEB, Engr Md Rakib Ullah who appointed in 1 September said about this that work is underway to identify those who obtained certificates fraudulently with bribes through 'forensic audit'. We may get the forensic audit at the end of this month or the first week of next month. If proven, the certificate will be revoked. One person has been suspended and booked for his involvement in a racket of issuing fake certificates.
ZH
