MICHELLE DUFF
Fake teachers, pastry chefs and economists have been caught trying to land jobs with qualifications they did not complete or which never existed, the Qualifications Authority has revealed.
Since 2007, dozens of foreigners have been caught out by NZQA attempting to lie their way into employment. People from China and Fiji were the most common offenders, with degrees the most-forged qualification.
Details disclosed under the Official Information Act show people attempted to claim they had degrees in subjects from computer science to childcare, business management and information technology.
In one case, a man was employed as an automotive mechanic before questions were raised about fake references and qualifications.
The circumstances of this case are being investigated by the office of the Ombudsman.
In 2006, a 33-year-old man from Bulgaria attempted to gain a job with a master of computer science degree from Tehniceski Universitet Sofia. But the university told NZQA the student had flunked in 1997 because of poor results.
Another job applicant, 29, from India, claimed to hold a bachelor of education before investigations showed he attended teachers’ college for only seven weeks.
Applicants caught by NZQA had tried to forge signatures and seals on qualification documents, and in some cases drew up certificates that bore no resemblance to originals.
The number of fakes detected was highest in 2008, when 14 fraudulent qualifications were exposed by NZQA – a figure that had dropped to nine in 2009 and was at eight for the period from July 2010 to March last year.
NZQA said attempts at qualification fraud were growing rapidly internationally, but it was confident that enough was being done in New Zealand to detect this type of fraud.
Strong, effective networks of information and intelligence were maintained across countries and within agencies to combat the issue of bogus qualifications, NZQA chief executive Karen Poutasi said.
“New Zealand is not immune to forged qualification problems. However, the quality assurance, regulatory frameworks and qualification evaluation practices in place provide effective protections.”
All documents are checked by evaluators who have received document training from the police forensic unit. If found to be false, cases were passed to the Immigration New Zealand fraud office and Interpol for prosecution if necessary.
Some migrants who enter New Zealand under the skilled migrant category do not have their qualifications checked by NZQA. This is because their qualifications are on a list of recognised qualifications, established by the Labour Department in 2001.