Johannesburg, 11 Jul 2013
The Polytechnic of Namibia is the first African tertiary institution to partner with South Africa's National Qualifications Register (NQR), a proprietary online facility that includes the qualifications from nearly all of South Africa's leading universities, universities of technology and independent colleges.
Owned and managed by Managed Integrity Evaluation (MIE), Africa's leading background screening company, the NQR has been up and running since 2000. Today, over three million qualifications are logged on the system, which is constantly updated with the latest graduate data from partnering tertiary institutions.
The digital interface and search function ensure feedback that is accurate, reliable, secure, user-friendly and virtually instantaneous. Regarded as indispensable by many people in the business of verifying qualifications, the NQR frees up capacity in tertiary institutions, enabling limited resources to focus on strategic issues and priority areas that improve the quality of the learning experience.
According to Professor Tjama Tjivikua, the Rector of the Polytechnic of Namibia, 70 requests for qualification verifications were received since the beginning of the year alone. Following a high-profile case in Windhoek, where 11 people were charged with falsifying tertiary qualifications, he says the Polytechnic's presence on the NQR will go a long way towards reassuring stakeholders and reducing this type of fraud, which is good for the country and region as a whole. Namibian law enforcement authorities have also urged tertiary institutions and employers to be on the lookout for "academic cheats".
The Polytechnic of Namibia offers undergraduate and post-graduate degrees in the areas of business, engineering, IT, journalism, hospitality, natural resource management and medicine. Alumni are spread far and wide across the globe.
MIE's Chief Executive Officer, Ina van der Merwe, welcomed the Polytechnic of Namibia to the NQR. "According to MIE's latest background screening index, qualifications from African institutions carry a significant risk rate of 50%. Job seekers believe that a prospective employer can't or won't attempt to verify qualifications from another country. While MIE works tirelessly to build relationships with all African institutions to make these verifications possible, belonging to the NQR reduces complexity and cost, and enhances the authenticity and speed of information. By leading the way in Africa, the Polytechnic of Namibia and the NQR are providing a much-needed and valuable service to all past, present and future graduates, and employers who are based locally and globally.
MIE offers a wide range of background screening services in South Africa, as well as Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Plans are in place to continue engaging African tertiary institutions regarding the role of the NQR in improving the management of their administrations.
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