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SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) is currently investigating 15 job pass holders who declared qualifications from a private university in India.
All 15 people are currently employed in Singapore and had declared their Manav Bharti University qualifications in their applications for work passes, MOM said.
“If they are found to have falsely declared their educational qualifications, their work passes will be immediately revoked and they will be permanently banned from employment in Singapore,” a MOM spokesperson said in a statement on Wednesday (February 17).
Employers have the primary responsibility to ensure the “authenticity and quality” of the academic qualifications of foreigners they wish to hire, MOM said.
Before submitting an application for a job pass, the employer should have already assessed the candidate, including their qualifications, to ensure that the applicant has the appropriate skills and qualifications for the position applied for.
“Most employers take this role seriously as they are interested in having a rigorous selection and recruitment process to ensure qualified candidates,” the ministry said.
As an added safeguard to maintain the integrity of the job pass framework, MOM performs its own checks and verification after the employer submits the academic documents.
“We take a closer look at higher risk academic institutions, companies and individuals, perform additional checks and require the submission of proof of verification of the qualifications stated in selected applications,” he said.
MOM also verifies the authenticity of ratings submitted directly through issuing institutions or third-party screening agencies.
“In addition, MOM receives and acts on reports from employers who discover they have been misled after the arrival of the work pass holder.” added the ministry.
MOM will revoke the work passes of foreign employees who have submitted falsified documents in their work pass applications. They will also be permanently banned from working in Singapore.
They can also be prosecuted under the Employment of Foreign Labor Act.
If found guilty, they face a fine of up to S $ 20,000, a jail term of up to two years, or both.
MOM said that in the past five years, an average of 660 foreigners have been permanently barred from working in Singapore each year for submitting false educational qualifications on their job pass applications.
During the same period, an average of eight foreigners each year were convicted and sanctioned by the courts for false statements of educational qualifications.
