Amid the rising number of fake diploma cases in Indonesia, the role of verification technology has become increasingly important. A 2023 report by Tempo revealed that several private universities had their licenses revoked due to involvement in diploma trading practices, highlighting the serious threat to the integrity of education in the country.

To address the need for diploma verification, Universitas Pembangunan Jaya (UPJ) has partnered with PT Integrity Indonesia through the Minerva service since 2022. This collaboration offers a centralized platform, Education Verification, that helps companies and organizations quickly and securely verify the educational documents of UPJ graduates. The partnership aims to ensure the accuracy of alumni academic records while also boosting UPJ’s reputation among the public and in the job market.

Addressing Diploma Fraud Through Technological Collaboration

“We are seeing more and more cases of diploma fraud out there. I’ve even heard of places where people can buy fake diplomas using the name of a real university and its departments, with formats that look very similar,” said Mr. Yunus Widjaja, S.Kom., MM., Head of the Education Bureau and Lecturer of Information Systems at UPJ.

One preventive measure taken by UPJ is to work closely with printing vendors under a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). “For example, at UPJ, we ensure that only the university’s official diploma templates are printed, complete with special security marks that are hard to replicate,” Mr. Yunus added. This step aims to minimize the risk of misuse and reinforce trust in the documents issued by the university.

However, with increasingly sophisticated methods used in document forgery, internal preventive measures alone are no longer sufficient. UPJ sees the involvement of a professional and independent third party in the verification process as a crucial element. By collaborating with a digital verification service provider, UPJ is committed to ensuring that its graduates’ diplomas can be validated objectively and transparently. This offers assurance of integrity to institutions looking to recruit UPJ alumni.

Minerva: An Efficient Solution for Education Verification

Before partnering with Minerva, the diploma verification process at UPJ was handled manually, which required significant time and resources. “I believe diploma verification was quite time-consuming and resource-heavy. With Minerva, the process has become much easier because all verification requests are now handled centrally through the Education Verification platform,” said Mr. Yunus.

Minerva facilitates the verification of diplomas submitted by companies or institutions during the recruitment process to confirm the academic credentials of job candidates. Through the platform, verification requests can be made directly and centrally. This system provides a more efficient and faster process while ensuring the accuracy of the data provided to those who need it.

Beyond speeding up the process, Minerva also supports transparency in recruitment and employee selection. As the industry increasingly depends on the authenticity of academic data, services like Minerva have become more relevant and necessary.

Strengthening Public Trust in University Reputation

“When a financial institution submitted a diploma verification request, we directed them to the Education Verification platform. It turned out that they were already familiar with the service,” said Mr. Yunus. The fact that many companies already know and trust Minerva shows that UPJ is part of a credible verification ecosystem, which helped to further strengthen the university’s academic reputation.

With the presence of an independent third party, both companies and other educational institutions can be more confident in the validity of UPJ graduates’ data. Ultimately, this fosters greater trust in the quality of education provided by the university.

At the end of the interview, Mr. Yunus shared his hope for the collaboration. “We believe Minerva will maintain the strong foundation that has been established. In the future, we hope the partnership can expand into other areas as well,” he concluded.