Abstract:

The prevalence of fake academic certificates in the country is worrying. This is evidently shown during the vetting and recruitment process of candidates into the job market. In order to curb the fraudulent use of fake qualifications, institutions have taken measures that usually involve a third party to verify the authenticity of educational certificates. The main weaknesses of this approach is that the time taken to verify certificates is too long. In addition to that, using an intermediary introduces aspects such as extra costs and the potential inaccessibility to institutions in various geographical locations.

This project proposes a model that digitise certificates using the Ethereum Blockchain technology. Its desirable features like immutability, distributed peer-to-peer network and creation of decentralized applications using smart contracts, will aid in curbing this problem. Further, it is permissioned and allows for provenance.

These features will enable the following:
1. Creation of digital certificates which can be shared and validated online.
2. Online verification of existing certificates to ascertain their authenticity
3. Quick online reference of people’s credentials from anywhere without the need to directly contact the institution in question. In cases where the institution ceases to exist, the verification of the certificate will be possible.

This research intends to develop a system that can address the issue of fake certificates. Agile methodology is the proposed software methodology for the solution development. A questionnaire was used to gauge user interest and readiness for a blockchain system for the management of academic credentials. The target respondents were Strathmore University students ranging from age 18-40 years. The percentage of men was 62.8% and women 37.2%. Majority of the respondents were undergraduate students at 91.5%. On analyzing the current practices of the respondents in the maintenance of their academic certificates, 58% maintain both the physical and scanned copies of their documents. Less than 1% have their documents stored in a safe for a cost. In situations when academic credentials were requested, two modes of submission indicated the highest percentage.

These are:
1. Sending the scanned documents via email (67%)
2. Physically obtaining the stamped certificate from the issuing institution (65.2%)
91.4% of the respondents approve of a system that can digitally store these academic certificates allowing for easy access and sharing.

Among the reasons given for the openness to a digital system for maintaining academic credentials are: Convenience, security and ease of access, safety and durability, ease of sharing with interested parties and portability. The respondents who expressed doubts about maintaining and storing their academic credentials online shared the following concerns: Privacy, security and forgery.

Keywords:

Blockchain, ethereum, peer-to-peer, smart contract, provenance, Agile methodology.