Aili Iilonga
Students urged to verify before registration
THE Namibia Qualification Authority (NQA) has raised concerns over the number of unaccredited training institutions that are targeting innocent and desperate students who end up spending hard-earned money on unrecognised qualifications.
The latest incident of the owner of Impact Training institute being arrested on allegations of theft by false presence has is cause for alarm as many students are registered at bogus institutions operate in the dark, making it difficult to track them.
These were the concerns of NQA spokesperson, Cathrine Shipushu, who said that NQA finds it hard to trace the existence of many of these unaccredited training institutions.
“The NQA would like to caution current and prospective learners against enrolling in unaccredited institutions. Due to the fact that these institutions are not quality assured, it is impossible to validate the quality of educational outcomes and thus the employability of graduates from those institutions,” she said.
According to Shipushui, there are currently 52 institutions that are accredited by the NQA and have been found to have the capacity to offer specified courses in line with national quality standards.
Shipushu also noted that although bogus institutions generally operate in the shadows, the NQA system forces institutions to seek accreditation on the courses offered, making it easier for students to verify the accreditation status before enrolling.
“As the public becomes aware of the consequences of studying at unaccredited institutions, they will be forced to seek NQA accreditation in order to keep operating,” said Shipushu.
She added that although the occurrence of bogus institutions in the world continues to rise, and specifically in Namibia, students are advised to always “consult the NQA in order to verify the accreditation status of both the institution and course before enrolling for studies”.
“Studying at an unaccredited institution is essentially a waste of precious time and money, and our objective is to protect the students from going through this unfortunate experience,” concluded Shipushu.
