Saudi Gazette report

DAMMAM — Some women graduates of science colleges were accused of presenting forged English language certificates to join a program that would qualify them for health jobs, Makkah daily reported on Monday quoting informed sources.

They said the women, who are graduates of science colleges, have failed to pass IELTS (International English Language Testing System) or its equivalent so as to join a program that qualifies them for various health jobs.

The sources did not identify the women or reveal their number but said they bought forged IELTS certificates at SR3,000 or more so as to be accepted in the program which will qualify them for the health jobs.

The program accepts women graduates of the faculties of chemistry and biology so as to further qualify them for the health jobs but makes it a condition that they should have successfully passed English proficiency tests such as IElTS and others.

The source said for this very reason a number of the women candidates resorted to buying forged English language certificates which are publicized on the social media.

They said the sites which publicize such certificates on the social media claim that they were guaranteed against discovery.

Abdullah Al-Zuhayan, spokesman of the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties, warned against buying such certificates and said the commission would easily uncover them.

"Even if the candidate was able to go away with her forged certificate, she will be discovered during the personal interview which is conducted by specialists in the English language,"he said.

The spokesman said the commission has a department to verify certificates and can easily uncover the fake ones as it is dealing with a number of specialized international firms.

He said anyone caught with forged certificate will be referred to the concerned authorities for punishment.

"Any woman candidate who resorts to using forged certificates will be tried on charges of forgery and of attempting to obtain a training opportunity which she does not really deserve," he said.

Zuhayan advised the women who are unable to join the training program that will qualify them for the health jobs due to weakness in English language to take time to perfect the language and try again to join the program which is continuing.

He said the program is being held in five cities which are: Riyadh, Jeddah, Makkah, Dhahran and Dammam.

Deputy secretary general of the commission, Salman Al-Omran, said the health sector in the Kingdom needs more than 3,750 women health practitioners.

Since the program was launched in the first quarter of 2017, about 4,747 women have applied to join of which only 550 were accepted.