The National Qualifications Framework Amendment Bill has officially been tabled in parliament.<\/p>\n
The proposed laws will empower the\u00a0South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) to establish and maintain registers<\/strong> for professional designations, misrepresented qualifications and fraudulent qualifications – including a full evaluation of foreign qualifications.<\/p>\n The new bill also introduces a number of measures to deal with misrepresentation of qualifications – including\u00a0consequences for persons who misrepresent their qualifications, or organisations that issue qualifications that are invalid.<\/p>\n According to the bill, any person who claims that a qualification or part-qualification has been awarded to him or her by an education institution, skills development provider or foreign institution, where in fact no such qualification or part-qualification has been awarded, is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to any sentence which may be imposed for an offence of fraud<\/strong>.<\/p>\n This extends to any\u00a0person or education institution which fraudulently claims that they are offering a qualification, and any person who\u00a0reproduces a false data document, certificate, diploma, degree, computer printout or any falsified records in connection with a qualification or part-qualification.<\/p>\n South Africa has long battled with the issue of qualifications and background checks, with the issue coming under the spotlight once again in recent months when it was revealed<\/a> <\/strong>that the Tshwane mayor’s chief of staff was hired without the required qualifications.<\/p>\n Government has also clamped down on a number of\u00a0 ‘fake colleges<\/a><\/strong>‘ in recent months, and has urged\u00a0urged students and parents to beware of the private institutions of higher education and training that are not registered.<\/p>\n
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