Errors have been found in approximately 300 employment declarations issued digitally by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (OWC). Minister Dirk Currie said this on Wednesday ahead of the Council of Ministers meeting. Since the system was introduced, at least 4,000 online applications have been submitted, according to the minister.
The digital application procedure was launched on September 1. According to Currie, it was known beforehand that the accuracy of the data files would be decisive for the functioning of the system. “We knew from the outset that the system would not function 100 percent, because everything depends on the accuracy of the files.”
The ministry nevertheless introduced the service. Currie stressed that the majority of employment declarations are correct. The ministry is continuing to improve the system and correct the errors.
Phased implementation
According to acting e-Gov director Lydion Dalfour, the digital service is being introduced in phases. OWC was the first ministry to be connected because of the high demand for employment declarations and its large workforce.
Ministry employees have received an additional tab on their digital ID platform. This allows them to apply for an employment declaration and subsequently download the document.
Dalfour indicated that the system will be further refined before other ministries are connected. He expects the expansion to the rest of the civil service not to take long.
According to e-Gov, the system contains security features that allow the authenticity of employment declarations to be verified. This should make it possible to establish whether a document was actually issued through the official system. According to Dalfour, the legal requirements were also taken into account during development.
