Independent News reports that the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) last week adopted the National Qualifications Framework Amendment Bill, which will name and shame those using fraudulent academic qualifications.  

The National Assembly during its earlier consideration of the bill learnt that about 97 national qualifications and 95 foreign qualifications had been misrepresented or found to be fraudulent between last October and November, bringing the number up to 1,564 from 2009.  But, Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Dr Belinda Bozzoli cautioned that the SA Qualifications Authority (SAQA), which will be tasked with managing the database, did not have the capacity to deal with the kind of responsibility that will be assigned to it.  The IFP supported the Bill, but said it was also concerned about its implementation.  The bill passed in the NCOP with the ANC’s majority, but some of its members were against it for various reasons.  According to the bill, all qualifications must be captured on the SAQA database.  Qualifications presented for study, employment or appointment will be referred to SAQA for verification or evaluation.  The bill lays down that any person who fraudulently claims to have received a qualification will be guilty of an offence

• Read the full original of Mary-Jane Mphahlele’s report in the above regard at Independent News

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