NQA Cements Relationships with Zimbabwean Stakeholders
20 May 2015
The Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA) has cemented relationships with authorities and institutions of higher learning in Zimbabwe. This is a direct result of cooperation agreements reached during a visit to the southern Africa country recently.  
 
 
As part of its stakeholder engagement strategy, the NQA recently sent a high level delegation led by the CEO, Mr Franz Gertze, to engage with key stakeholders in Zimbabwe. With assistance from the Namibian Embassy in Harare, the NQA paid courtesy calls to stakeholders in the education sector including the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Zimbabwe School Examinations Council, Zimbabwe Council on Higher Education and several institutions of higher learning.  Primarily, the talks were aimed at exchanging valuable information regarding the process of evaluating foreign qualifications and sharing best practices in the area of quality assurance. 
 
The NQA, as per its mandate under the Regulations to the Evaluation of Qualifications (Government Notice 182, 2007) evaluates qualifications attained from institutions of higher learning outside Namibia. This is done with the aim of firstly establishing the authenticity of such qualifications and secondly, determining their comparable level on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF).  
 
The talks concluded on a high note with the parties identifying and agreeing on areas of mutual collaboration. These agreements not only strengthen the long-standing relationship between the NQA and its stakeholders based in Zimbabwe, but are also beneficial for the Authority in terms of improving its internal efficiency.  As such, these collaborations are of great value as they open up new opportunities for the NQA to improve the process of verifying and evaluating foreign qualifications and thereby enhancing overall customer experience.  
 
As a direct result of the collaborations between the NQA and stakeholders in Zimbabwe, the Authority is now in a better position to evaluate qualifications originating from institutions of higher learning in that country. While this process is ongoing, the NQA appeals to all clients who submitted qualifications for evaluation to be patient as the verification process continues. The NQA assures its clients that all efforts are being made to ensure that the evaluation process is completed within the shortest time possible, and that all clients will be notified individually once their applications have been processed.