CollegeBloc: secure document storage for

educational institutes and recruiter system using

blockchain

XXX-X-XXXX-XXXX-X/XX/$XX.00 ©20XX IEEE

 Abstract— A student, whether in high school, pursuing
undergraduate, or postgraduate studies, generates numerous
certificates like results, diplomas, and transcripts throughout their
educational journey. These certificates are vital for admissions
into educational institutions or employment in companies.
However, manually tracking and verifying the authenticity of
these certificates can be a cumbersome task. Without a reliable
anti-forgery system in place, there is a risk of encountering
counterfeit graduation certificates. To enhance the security and
integrity of this data, there is a need for digitization guided by the
principles of Confidentiality, Reliability, and Availability. This
objective can be effectively achieved through the application of
blockchain technology. In a nutshell, our system's workflow will
involve a Certificate Issuer responsible for creating certificates.
Before these certificates are issued to students, they will undergo
validation by a panel within the issuing organization. Each
certificate will be associated with a unique hash key, which serves
as a means for any organization to easily verify the certificate's
authenticity through a dedicated portal. The advantages of such a
system are manifold. Students face reduced risks of losing or
damaging their certificates, and the process of verifying these
certificates becomes significantly streamlined for organizations.
Keywords— Digital Certificates, Blockchain,
IPFS, Certificate Generation and Verification
I. INTRODUCTION
In the typical educational journey in India, students navigate
through various stages from kindergarten to high school,
followed by transitions to junior colleges and different
universities for graduation. With approximately 26.3 million
students graduating annually, managing such a large volume of
records presents significant challenges. The vast population also
leads to the unfortunate proliferation of fraudulent certificates,
creating a pressing issue. The conventional process demands
students to repeatedly present their certificates for validation at
different stages, leading to risks like certificate loss or damage.
Validators are burdened with the task of authenticating
numerous certificates, often leading to time-consuming
processes. In this scenario, the emergence of blockchain
technology offers a promising solution. Blockchain ensures the
integrity of data, making it tamper-proof and instantly detectable
if altered. Validation in a blockchain system involves multiple
parties, ensuring high reliability and authentication. The
proposed system not only validates certificates but also
generates them, streamlining the process significantly. This
automation reduces validation time to mere seconds, eliminating
concerns about certificate loss or damage. In essence, this
innovative system addresses the existing flaws, providing an
automated, reliable, and secure solution that benefits both
students and organizations. This proposed system Fig.1. not only
removes the loopholes in our current system but also gives us an
effective and concrete solution.
II. LITERATURE SURVEY
Centralized storage and management mode is usually
adopted, which makes systems that use this mode vulnerable to
various attacks as cited in the EduRSS by Li, Hongzhi & Han,
Dezhi & Li, Kuan-Ching & Castiglione, Arcangelo [1]. Besides,
the records of different educational stages are stored in separate
storage servers of education institutions and these storage
servers are usually designed to allow access only by internal
staff, without any form of interoperability. To protect personal
information, institutions usually adopt security policies to
restrict the access and sharing of records. A novel scheme is
proposed, which integrates educational records storage and
sharing among education institutions enabled by blockchain,
storage servers and smart contracts. A consortium blockchain is
constructed, which is formed by institutions to record
educational data in a verifiable and immutable ledger to
guarantee data auditability. Multiple institutes can participate in
the blockchain. The storage process is based on blockchain
techniques and storage servers which are secure. The sharing
scheme of educational records proposed in this work refers to
achieving a state of secure and reliable sharing of educational records,
and this sharing operation usually takes place between nodes on the
blockchain. Anti-tampering inspection based on blockchain.
Collusion, Tamper Attack (could be achieved when the number of
member nodes is small) and Replay Attack. Aiming at the need for
protection and sharing of educational records, a secure storage and
sharing scheme based on the blockchain, referred to as EduRSS by
Li, Hongzhi & Han, Dezhi & Li, Kuan-Ching & Castiglione,
Arcangelo [1]. The integrity and security of the data can be ensured
by the consortium chain between institutions. A distributed institution
authentication mechanism is proposed to ensure the security of
blockchain nodes. Due to digitalization, most of all records including
student records have been digitized. However, currently different
digital profiles of a student are still stored dispersedly in multiple
databases, which results in information silos and vulnerability to
security and privacy threats. Aiming at these deficiencies, this paper
by Zhang, Xiaofei & Du, Haiping & Jia, Zhijuan & Cui, Chi & Yang,
Yanyan [2] proposes a secure storage and sharing scheme of student
digital profiles based on blockchain technology. With the
characteristics of decentralization, security, credibility, and tamper-
resistance of the blockchain, the consensus of network nodes is
achieved through the Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance (DBFT)
Fig. 1 Architecture diagram of the proposed system.
protocol, and the sharing of student digital profile information is
achieved through the access control mechanism. The public
information of educational digital information is preserved on the
blockchain, and the student profiles are encrypted and stored in a
database or cloud, which facilitates the effective storage of personal
digital profiles and information sharing among various systems. This
paper [3] is focused on finding the potential applications of
blockchain technology in solving educational problems. It provides
the core features and advantages of blockchain technology followed
by a few of the current blockchain applications for education. The
benefits and challenges are also discussed. As of the present
application in education most universities and institutes use
blockchain technology to support academic degree management and
summative evaluation for learning outcomes. It can formulate the
whole transcript, which includes learning contents and outcomes as
well as student’s achievements and academic certificates. It also
includes information about research experience, skills, online learning
experience as well as individual interests. These data can be safely
stored as described in the paper [4] and accessed on a blockchain
network in appropriate ways. This contributes to reducing degree
fraud significantly. The proposed ideas for future implementation are
carrying out instructing and learning activities for teachers and
students which facilitates the effective storage of personal digital
profiles and information sharing among various systems. This paper
[3] is focused on finding the potential applications of blockchain
technology in solving educational problems. It provides the core
features and advantages of blockchain technology followed by a few
of the current blockchain applications for education. The benefits and
challenges are also discussed. As of the present application in
education most universities and institutes use blockchain technology
to support academic degree management and summative
evaluation for learning outcomes. It can formulate the whole
transcript, which includes learning contents and outcomes as
well as student’s achievements and academic certificates. It also
includes information about research experience, skills, online
learning experience as well as individual interests. These data
can be safely stored as described in the paper [4] and accessed
on a blockchain network in appropriate ways. This contributes
to reducing degree fraud significantly. The proposed ideas for
future implementation are carrying out instructing and learning
activities for teachers and students.
III. TECHNOLOGIES USED
• React: We use react for building interactive user
interfaces and web applications quickly and efficiently.
• Solidity [9]: Solidity is a statically typed programming
language designed for developing smart contracts that
run on Ethereum. We use solidity for the core smart
contracts of our project.
• Node JS: Node JS is used to write backends and is
responsible for serving frontend pages, assets and
managing authentication using JWT (Json Web Token).
It also has web3 as a dependency which allows us to run
solidity code on frontend.
• IPFS: The Inter Planetary File System is a peer-to-peer
network for storing and sharing data in a distributed file
system. IPFS uses content-addressing to uniquely
identify each file in a global namespace connecting all
computing devices.
• MetaMask: MetaMask is an extension for accessing
Ethereum enabled distributed applications or ”Dapps” in
your browser. The extension injects the Ethereum web3
API into every website’s JavaScript context so that
Dapps can read from the blockchain.
• Ganache: Ganache is used for testing Solidity contracts
on a personal Ethereum Blockchain. It by default
provides an easy setup for spinning up a network with
around ten users with each having 100 eths on their
account. These accounts can be used to mimic the
transactions between the users.
• Truffle [8]: It provides easy compilation, linking,
deployment and binary management of smart contracts
written in solidity language.
IV. IMPLEMENTATION DETAILS
A. Smart Contract for certificate storage and getting the hash
The foundation of any blockchain project rests on its
contract, a crucial component that operates on any node within
the network. These contracts are written in the Solidity
language, a high-level coding language derived from JavaScript
and strongly typed languages. It is primarily used for scripting
smart contracts. An integral part of these contracts is the IPFS
hash, specifically a byte32 IPFS hash, intricately linked to the
generated document, as comprehensively detailed [7]. This hash
serves as a pivotal tool for verifying the document's authenticity.
Additionally, various other details are essential
for inclusion in the Certificate. These Solidity files that are
associated with IPFS are managed by platforms such as Pinata
and Infura. They contain the machine code of the Solidity
functions, which is crucial for the proper functioning of the
contracts. IPFS, being a decentralized and distributed system,
ensures the security and accessibility of uploaded documents.
These documents are safeguarded by the network and can be
retrieved using their respective hashes. Due to its distributed
nature, no single user has sole control over a document, as
each node in the IPFS system holds a portion of the file. This
design ensures that no one can modify or deny access to a
document single-handedly.
Fig. 2 Flow diagram of the implemented project
B. FrontEnd
Tailwind CSS serves as the cornerstone of our Frontend
development. It's renowned for being a "utility-first CSS
framework," facilitating the rapid creation of bespoke user
interfaces. Tailwind CSS boasts a vast library of pre-made
utility classes, offering developers the ability to construct
responsive and adaptable UIs. Its gentle learning curve makes
it particularly accessible to those already versed in CSS.
Scalability is one of its core strengths, making it suitable for
projects of any size, from small-scale applications to
enterprise-level endeavors. Its Just-In-Time (JIT) mode
accelerates build times, while smaller file sizes are achieved
through style reusability and predefined design systems.
Moreover, styling is seamlessly integrated into our markup,
eliminating the need to navigate external files.
C. Proposed System
Our proposed MERN (MongoDB, Express, React,
Node.js) application is divided into three distinct modules:
College, Student, and Recruiter. The College module's
primary responsibilities encompass managing student data,
generating credentials, student registration, and uploading
semester certificates. Student access includes viewing their
semester certificates and receiving interview invitations from
recruiters. The Recruiter module offers recruiters the
capability to view student profiles, assess their certificates,
and extend invitations for interviews or coding rounds.
a) MERN Stack: Our application leverages the MERN
stack, which comprises MongoDB for data storage, Express
for API development, React for the front end, and Node.js for
server-side development. This stack enables seamless
communication between the front end and back end.
b) College Module: Within the College module, we
automate credential generation upon student registration.
Randomly generated passwords are sent to students via email,
with the option for them to change these credentials.
Registration can be completed individually through a form or
in bulk via an Excel file, which is processed in Express
and its data stored in MongoDB. To ensure certificate
integrity, students can upload their semester
certificates (up to 8 semesters) to IPFS storage using
Pinata, with the associated hash stored in MongoDB.
The College module offers two methods for uploading
certificates: single student uploads or bulk uploads via
an Excel file. The latter process involves iterating
through each row of the Excel file and converting data
into certificates using OpenCV and a Python script
connected to Express through the child_process
library. The College module also provides access to
student and recruiter lists, with sorting capabilities.
c) Student Module: In the Student module, students
can access their semester certificates upon login.
Additionally, this module allows students to receive and
respond to interview invitations from recruiters. Notifications
are triggered upon invitation receipt, giving students the
option to accept or decline the invitations.
d) The Recruiter module: The Recruiter module
empowers recruiters to review student profiles, assess
certificates, and send interview or coding round invitations.
Recruiters can browse and sort student profiles based on
various criteria, streamlining the selection process. When an
invitation is extended, students receive notifications to accept
or decline the invitation.
Fig. 3 Architecture diagram of the implemented system.
V. CONCLUSION
In summary, implementing a blockchain-based system for
secure document storage in educational institutions offers
significant potential in enhancing the efficiency, security, and
reliability of the recruitment process. By employing
decentralized storage and smart contracts, educational
institutions can protect crucial documents, ensuring they are
immune to tampering or unauthorized access. This technology
also enables automated document verification and
authentication, reducing the risks of errors or delays in
recruitment and enhancing trust and transparency. The
primary advantage of adopting blockchain technology in
educational institutions is the heightened security it provides,
preventing tampering or unauthorized alterations. By
dispersing documents across multiple nodes within a
decentralized storage system, manipulation becomes nearly
impossible, ensuring document integrity. Any attempts at
tampering are swiftly detected and rectified. Additionally,
automating the verification and authentication process using
smart contracts diminishes the need for manual interventions,
reducing the risks of human error and expediting the
recruitment cycle. Embracing blockchain technology in
document storage represents a strategic investment for
educational institutions, fortifying their reputation,
safeguarding students' interests, and fostering a trustworthy,
efficient recruitment process.
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[10] https://docs.soliditylang.org/
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