Parliament\u2019s Committee on Higher Education and Training has adopted the National Qualifications Framework Amendment Bill.<\/p>\n
The bill introduces a \u2018register\u2019 of fraudulent qualifications which would contain the names and details of individuals and providers who had been found by a court of law to be holding or issuing at least one fraudulent qualification.<\/p>\n
According to the bill, \u2018a fraudulent qualification or part-qualification\u2019 includes a degree, diploma or certificate that is forged, fraudulently obtained or awarded in contravention of this Act, and has been declared as such by a court of law.<\/p>\n
“The bill empowers the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) to establish and maintain separate registers for professional designations, misrepresented qualifications and part-qualifications, and fraudulent qualifications,” said the committee’s acting chairperson, Charles Kekana.<\/p>\n
“The SAQA is also empowered to evaluate foreign qualifications or part-qualifications and publish criteria for evaluating foreign qualifications or part-qualifications.”<\/p>\n
If, after verification or evaluation, a qualification is found to be a misrepresented one, SAQA must refer the finding or information to the relevant professional body.<\/p>\n
The following information must be record in the register:<\/p>\n
In addition to being included on this register, the bill states that any person who fraudulently claims to have received a qualification is guilty of an offence, and is liable on conviction to any sentence which may be imposed for an offence of fraud.<\/p>\n
Most common lies<\/strong><\/p>\n Background screening company, Managed Integrity Evaluation (MIE), recently released a report which\u00a0identified<\/a> <\/strong>the most frequently lied about areas on candidate resumes in South Africa.<\/p>\n MIE found that the number of qualifications found to be fraudulent has decreased to 1,678 in 2017, from 2,049 in 2016; however, the number of misrepresented qualifications has increased from 44,880 in 2016, to 50,618 in 2017.<\/p>\n Results showed that a candidate\u2019s qualification(s) is the most likely aspect to contain discrepancies when compared to other background screening checks.<\/p>\n Aspects of a CV most frequently found to be misrepresented or incorrect:<\/p>\n