A Blockchain-based Conceptual Model to Address Educational Certificate Verification Challenges in Tanzania
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Date
2023-08-08
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research (ETASR)
Abstract
The proliferation of counterfeit educational certificates is an ongoing issue around the world, including
Tanzania. The effect of this malpractice is detrimental to the credibility of education. Traditional strategies
to prevent fake certificates are abortive, calling for a more sophisticated approach. Blockchain technology
has recently emerged as an ideal solution to this problem due to its inherent attributes that ensure
disintermediation, immutability, tamper proof, anonymity, transparency, consensus, security, and trust.
However, most existing blockchain-based solutions lack crucial functionalities that are pertinent to the
Tanzanian education system. This study unveiled the challenges faced by the current verification system in
Tanzania and proposed a blockchain-based conceptual model to address them. The proposed model is
based on blockchain, smart contracts, and the Interplanetary File System (IPFS). Quantitative and
qualitative methods were used to investigate certification problems in Tanzania and modeling techniques
were used to construct the conceptual model. The findings showed that the main challenges of the current
verification system emanate from manual procedures, unverifiable credentials, susceptibility of centralized
storage systems, disintegrated verification systems, revocation problems, difficulties in communication,
and high dependency on the issuers. These challenges undermine certificate verification, impose a
significant setback in the fight against forgeries, and create loopholes for forgeries to persist. It was
conceptually demonstrated that these issues can be resolved through the proposed blockchain-based
solution.
Sustainable Development Goals
This research article was published in the Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research Vol. 13, No. 5, 2023
Keywords
Blockchain, Smart contract, Interplanetary file system, Educational certificates, Counterfeiting