NQA warns against bogus colleges
The Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA) has warned prospective tertiary students not to enrol at unaccredited institutions to further their studies next year, as they will essentially be unemployable once they graduate.
NQA spokesperson Catherine Shipushu said the biggest challenge these unaccredited institutions pose is the fact that they are not quality assured, which makes it impossible to validate the quality of their educational programmes and thus the employability of their graduates.
“The continued existence of these unaccredited institutions contributes to the increased flooding of the labour market with unemployable graduates,” she said.
Shipushu also warned that studying at an unaccredited institution is essentially a waste of precious time and money.
“In the interest of protecting the integrity of Namibian qualifications and to prevent people from being swindled into studying for fake qualifications, the NQA strongly advices all prospective learners to always study at accredited institutions, by verifying their accreditation status prior to enrolment.
“It is important for the public to note that the NQA does not evaluate qualifications obtained at unaccredited institutions and such qualifications will not be recognised for any purpose, be it employment or further studies,” she said in a statement.
Shipushu highlighted that the NQA Council had granted accreditation to two additional institutions, following its meeting at the end of November.
Learners are advised to consult the updated list of accredited Namibian institutions to ascertain any changes to the scope of accreditation.
An updated list is available for perusal and download at www.namqa.org.
“Prospective learners are advised to verify the accreditation status of all institutions of higher learning operating in Namibia that have been found to have capacity to offer specified courses at the appropriate level of quality.
“It is critically important for learners to verify the accreditation status of both the institution and the specific course they would like to pursue.
“It has been noted that in some cases, institutions go beyond their specified accreditation scope by offering courses that have not been quality assured, a situation which bears critical consequences for learners, because although the institution is accredited, any qualification that falls outside the scope of accreditation will not be recognised.
“Essentially, if an institution or course does not appear on this list, then it is not accredited,” Shipushu added.
JEMIMA BEUKES
NQA spokesperson Catherine Shipushu said the biggest challenge these unaccredited institutions pose is the fact that they are not quality assured, which makes it impossible to validate the quality of their educational programmes and thus the employability of their graduates.
“The continued existence of these unaccredited institutions contributes to the increased flooding of the labour market with unemployable graduates,” she said.
Shipushu also warned that studying at an unaccredited institution is essentially a waste of precious time and money.
“In the interest of protecting the integrity of Namibian qualifications and to prevent people from being swindled into studying for fake qualifications, the NQA strongly advices all prospective learners to always study at accredited institutions, by verifying their accreditation status prior to enrolment.
“It is important for the public to note that the NQA does not evaluate qualifications obtained at unaccredited institutions and such qualifications will not be recognised for any purpose, be it employment or further studies,” she said in a statement.
Shipushu highlighted that the NQA Council had granted accreditation to two additional institutions, following its meeting at the end of November.
Learners are advised to consult the updated list of accredited Namibian institutions to ascertain any changes to the scope of accreditation.
An updated list is available for perusal and download at www.namqa.org.
“Prospective learners are advised to verify the accreditation status of all institutions of higher learning operating in Namibia that have been found to have capacity to offer specified courses at the appropriate level of quality.
“It is critically important for learners to verify the accreditation status of both the institution and the specific course they would like to pursue.
“It has been noted that in some cases, institutions go beyond their specified accreditation scope by offering courses that have not been quality assured, a situation which bears critical consequences for learners, because although the institution is accredited, any qualification that falls outside the scope of accreditation will not be recognised.
“Essentially, if an institution or course does not appear on this list, then it is not accredited,” Shipushu added.
JEMIMA BEUKES
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