KATHMANDU, Aug 7: The Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) has canceled 563 applications for the position of Assistant Caregiver at long-term care centers in Israel. The cancellations came after the DoFE found fake certificates among the applications received for caregivers in Israel. This incident has also revealed the issue of selling fake certificates to job-seeking youth.
The applicants whose submissions were canceled due to fake certificates have suffered greatly. On the one hand, they have incurred significant expenses, and on the other, they will not be able to pursue foreign employment. Youth seeking employment as caregivers in Israel had visited the City Ages Care Training and Research Center in New Baneshwar based on information provided on social media. At the center, these individuals were enticed with various offers and sold caregiver certificates. Had the certificates purchased been genuine, they would have been eligible for employment. However, this was not the case.
According to one of the victims, the care-giver certificates were sold for Rs 30,000 each. The center sold certificates to over a hundred individuals. "My family knows I am undergoing training for Israel," a victim, who requested anonymity, told Republica on Tuesday. "We were deceived and ripped off after paying a huge amount of money."
This issue came to light after the department canceled the applications, stating that they were not recognized by the CTEVT. Following this, those whose applications were canceled have started demanding refunds from the Center. The certificates had previously been issued to them with claims of recognition by the CTEVT. The victims allege that the certificates were issued with old dates without proper training.
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The victims only realized they had been deceived after the DoFE canceled the fake certificates. "I only realized I had been scammed after the DoFE invalidated the fake certificates," he said. "Some of the affected individuals have started demanding refunds from the Center, while others are preparing to file lawsuits against the Center that produced the fake certificates."
The Center issued certificates stating that the training for caregivers was conducted from March 12, 2023, to June 12, 2023. However, the youths had only started their caregiver training a month ago. The Center had provided certificates for a three-month period from March 2023 to June 2023 without actually conducting the training. For those whose applications were canceled, the DoFE's online system required submission of a recognition letter and stamped documents from the CTEVT. Since the applicants were unable to present such documents, their applications were canceled, according to the DoFE.
The DoFE’s records also show that City Aged Care is listed as an institution authorized by the CTEVT to provide caregiver training. After receiving applications with certificates from this institution, the DoFE had sent them to the CTEVT for verification. However, since the CTEVT did not recognize the institution as authorized, the applications were canceled, according to the DoFE.
City Aged Care has been providing caregiver training without even being authorized by the CTEVT. They also issued certificates with outdated dates and provided training only later. We were unaware of this. “We only found out after our applications were rejected by the DoFE" said the victims who had aspired to work as caregivers in Israel.
City Aged Care had been proposed for affiliation to the CTEVT. The CTEVT, on April 21, created a report stating that there was infrastructure preparation for providing training to a group of 20 people. Based on this, a recommendation for accreditation was made. However, the CTEVT has said that the organization has not yet received accreditation. Despite not having affiliation, the Center has been issuing certificates to students with latest dates.
Subas Khadka, the CEO and founder of the Center, mentioned that they have applied for affiliation from the CTEVT. He stated that although they had applied for affiliation earlier, no decision has been made yet. However, he mentioned that they had understood that they had received affiliation based on the report that the CTEVT had prepared. He said that they have now learned that the CTEVT has not yet made any decision regarding their affiliation.
“The CTEVT came to inspect for accreditation and provided a list of things to do at that time,” Khadka said, “After that, we did not receive any notice. We thought that we had received affiliation based on that. It was only after the certificates were held up that we realized otherwise.” He also mentioned that he did not distribute the certificates door-to-door.
“We are not frauds. We have provided some knowledge to the students. We are refunding the money to everyone whose courses were canceled by the DoFE,’ Khadka told Republica. “At least we taught for a month. Many institutions sell certificates and then provide education. Moreover, some institutions issue certificates without providing any education,” he added. The affected youth said that even though they were deceived, others should be cautious because they might end up borrowing money to study and face the risk of being duped.
