The General Directorate of Higher Education at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education stated that it has recorded the existence of forged certificates and/or forged signatures and seals related to university attestations and equivalences. It has notified the investigating authorities and provided them with copies of the relevant documents, while also following up on the investigation conducted by the concerned authorities to uncover the forgery networks that are likely operating outside the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and private higher education institutions.
It added: "The temporary halt on attesting certificates issued by the American University of Culture and Education and the University of Arts and Sciences in Lebanon is primarily due to the failure of the Higher Education Council to approve the appointments submitted to it at the level of the Board of Trustees and/or the University President and/or Vice Presidents and/or Deans of Faculties."
The Directorate confirmed that it is continuing to attest certificates issued by the Islamic University in Lebanon, and has requested this university to review several certificates pertaining exclusively to Iraqi students, without any association with suspected forgery. This review is due to the discrepancy between the content of several certificates and the European Credit Transfer System that the university adopted more than ten years ago. It was pointed out that the master's program at this university consists of one academic year of courses and one academic year for preparing the master's thesis, requiring two administrative registrations and a study period extending over two academic years, aligning with Article 6 of Law No. 285 dated April 30, 2014, regarding the description of the master's degree.
The General Directorate of Higher Education called on websites and media outlets to obtain accurate information from reliable sources and to refrain from spreading fabricated news without any legal documentation.
