WINDHOEK – Five privately owned training colleges that offer Institute of Commercial Management (ICM) programmes under a franchise arrangement have been ordered to stop offering the courses, leaving close to 2 000 students stranded next year.
Further, all prospective students are asked to desist from enrolling in any of the programmes in Namibia and elsewhere in the world.
Courses offered by ICM as qualifications will no longer be recognised in the country, the Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA) said.
NQA CEO Franz Gertze said the qualifications authority has ceased to recognise any qualifications from ICM in Namibia beyond 31 December 2014.
Speaking at a press briefing yesterday, Gertze said that in the process of considering applications for the evaluation of qualifications, the NQA identified some discrepancies in the titles and structure of some ICM programmes registered with the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulations (Qfqual), the quality assurance body in the United Kingdom (UK).
He said this prompted the NQA to temporarily discontinue evaluating ICM qualifications, pending research into the extent of the discrepancies.
He said the NQA alerted all current and prospective students in their quest for education to be wary of unaccredited training providers.
“Training providers are advised to discontinue offering ICM associated courses and qualifications, while funding institutions that fund students enrolling for any ICM associated qualifications in or outside Namibia must stop doing it.
“All accredited training providers currently offering ICM qualifications must seek qualifications from alternative bodies, provided that such qualifications are accredited in their country of origin. Alternatively, training providers have the option of developing their own qualifications, which must be quality assured by the NQA before implementation,” he said.
ICM is an examination and awarding body based in the UK and operates through approximately 500 approved teaching centres and in more than 130 countries around the world, including Namibia.
Since 2007, the NQA has accredited five privately owned Namibian training providers that offer ICM programmes under the franchise arrangements and agreements. These service providers are Ilsa Independent College, Monitronics College, Ondangwa Commercial College, Triumphant College and Katutura Community College. All of them offer varying qualifications in different fields of study like accounting, finance, marketing, tourism. human resources and journalism.
Gertze said discrepancies found in the report of subject matter experts (SMEs), indicated that there are indeed varying degrees of differences between titles, structures and learning outcomes in qualifications registered under Qfqual and those actually offered through local ICM franchisees.
He assured the nation that the situation has been handled with due diligence and that the plight of the affected students were equally given consideration.
“While the NQA acknowledges the need for training providers to accommodate the high number of secondary school graduates and the growing demand for higher education in the country, it should be categorically clear that such institutions must ensure that they have the necessary credentials and that their establishment is consistent with the country’s legal requirements,” he said
Gertze said qualifications from unaccredited training providers will under no circumstances be accepted for valuation by the NQA and shall therefore not be recognised. frhodes@newera.com.na
By Fifi Rhodes