NQA cautions bogus institutions to register or face the law

WINDHOEK, 26 APR  – The Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA) has cautioned bogus institutions to either follow the right procedures by registering for accreditation or face the law to its full extent.
Chairperson of the Accreditation, Audit and Assessment Committee at the NQA, Lilia Shaningwa made these remarks during the Accreditation Certificate handover ceremony held in the capital on Thursday.
According to Shaningwa, some of the fundamental factors of accreditation is to ensure that institutions have the appropriate capacity to offer quality programmes and courses.
“We cannot afford to compromise our education system by taking shortcuts when it comes to accreditation of training providers. Equally, we can no longer continue tolerating institutions that are operating in the dark and without making a single effort to gain accreditation from the NQA,” Shaningwa emphasised.
She explained that these bogus institutions are not only misleading people, but are also compromising the credibility and reputation of the higher education system in Namibia.
The chairperson noted that the council is aware of the challenges of unemployment, the main contributing factor to the high demand of higher learning institutions in the country, but warned institution owners not to compromise the quality of education in the provision of this vital service.
“NQA has always taken a developmental approach to accreditation because of the need to increase access to education for the youth of this country.”
Over 20 higher institutions comprising both new and those getting their accreditations renewed, received certificates.
In an interview with Nampa, Benhard Katjire, the training manager for one of the newly accredited institutions, RI Katjire Technical College, expressed hope for the institution’s expansion to other regions as it is currently only based in Windhoek.
“We have also realised that not everyone is academically gifted. So, we would like to train people to empower themselves with necessary skills,” Katjire stated.
There are currently 50 accredited institutions of higher learning in Namibia and according to Shaningwa, this demonstrates that the owners of these institutions have the will to meet Government halfway in addressing challenges, such as unemployment among the youth.

NAMPA