SOP to verify authenticity of academic and other certificates of guest faculty of degree colleges

The Department of Collegiate Education has released a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to verify the authenticity of certificates of guest faculty working in Government Grade Colleges .

Manjushree N., Commissioner of the Department of College Education, in a circular , directed to form a ‘Certificates Verification Committee’ in every government first-grade college to verify the authenticity of the certificates and asked them to follow this SOP compulsorily.

As per the order of the High Court, for the year 2025-26, based on the educational qualifications, experience, and other details , about 8,000 guest faculty have been selected through online counseling in government first-grade colleges as per the required workload.

The department had instructed the principals of all colleges to compulsorily obtain the authenticity report of the PG mark sheets, NET, SLET, K-SET, Ph.D., M.Phil. Person with Disability (PwD) certificates and Kalyana Karnataka certificates of the guest faculty as a one-time procedure.

However, in the report submitted by the universities and institutions to the principals, it was found that many candidates had submitted fake certificates. Taking this issue seriously, the department was planning to initiate action against these guest faculty. However, more than 200 guest lecturers resigned from their posts.

In this context, the department has resorted to SOP to verify the authenticity of the certificates submitted by the guest faculty.

Verification committee

A ‘Certificate Verification Committee’ should be mandatorily formed in every government first-grade college to verify the authenticity of the educational certificates of the guest faculty. The principal of the college will be the head of this committee, and heads of all the departments will be members .

The principal should ensure that the PG is issued by a University Grant Commission (UGC) recognised university. Reports related to the certificates of the guest faculty should be obtained from the universities and verified.

If the report indicates that the educational certificates are fake or invalid, the information should be uploaded to the Education Management Information System (EMIS) portal. It has been advised that the guest faculty concerned should be terminated immediately.

The SOP stated that if there is any objection or complaint about the authenticity of the certificate, even if the report is ‘genuine’ from the university, a ‘detailed scrutiny’ should be conducted.

NET, K-SET Certificates

To verify the authenticity of National Eligibility Test (NET) certificates, visit the UGC official website and obtain the authenticity report of the available years of certificates. Or, conduct an official verification online immediately by scanning the QR code available on the certificate.

In case the certificates of some years are not available for verification on the UGC official website, it has been informed that such certificates should be verified by contacting the National Testing Agency (NTA) or the concerned UGC regional office.

K-SET Certificates

To verify the authenticity of Karnataka State Eligibility Test (K-SET), contact the University of Mysore, which conducted the examination in the past. Or, visit the website of the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA), which is currently responsible, scan the QR code available on the certificate and verify the authenticity online.

Regarding the certificates submitted by Person with Disability (PwD) guest faculties, the Principal of the college should write to the District Health Officer or District Medical Board to get the guest faculties examined as per the rules and obtain an official report on the extent of their disability.

Regarding the certificate submitted by the guest lecturers stating that they belong to the Kalyana Karnataka region, the Principal should write to the concerned district’s Deputy Commissioner (DC) and request him to submit a validity certificate.

In case of any doubt or complaint regarding the service certificates submitted by the guest faculties, the committee shall officially correspond with the principal of the respective college and compulsorily confirm the authenticity of the certificates.

Speaking to The Hindu, Manjushree N., Commissioner, Department of Collegiate Education, said, “From the current academic year, guest faculty have been recruited based on UGC norms, and during verification of the authenticity of the documents, it was found that many guest lecturers had submitted fake certificates. This is a very serious issue. Therefore, a separate SOP has been issued for the verification of the educational certificates of guest faculties, which all principals must follow”.

Published – February 18, 2026 09:31 pm IST