NQA renews Malaysia agreement

The Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA) has renewed its longstanding cooperation agreement with its counterpart, the Malaysian Qualifications Authority (MQA), effective, 7 May.
The Memorandum of Technical Cooperation and Partnership has been in place for over 16 years following its commencement in 2000. During this time, the two authorities have established closer relations for the purpose of exploring ways and means of establishing cooperative and collaborative mechanisms for mutual benefit.
The MQA and NQA share similar mandates and institutional objectives in the implementation of the National Qualifications Framework and quality assurance of qualifications in their respective countries.
This agreement thus provides a framework for cooperation in various areas relating to quality assurance and has important benefits for Namibia in terms of information and expertise exchange which include sharing of policies, standard setting especially in respect of the National Qualifications Frameworks and mutual recognition of qualifications.
During the previous term that expired in May 2016, a benchmarking mission to Malaysia was undertaken for skills transfer purposes, during which NQA employees were exposed to international best practices in quality assurance. NQA CEO Franz Gertze sums up the value of this agreement to the NQA and the country at large. “We live in a time where qualifications have become sought after currency as the gateway to better quality of life. Therefore quality assurance in the education sector is of utmost importance and we are fortunate to cooperate with one of the foremost qualifications authorities in the world as we strive to ensure quality education for all Namibians. Further to that, the renewal of this agreement illustrates our commitment towards continuous refinement of our processes and internal efficiency which translates into better service for all our clients,” said Gertze.
There are currently 130 [government funded] Namibians studying in Malaysia pursuing various programmes including Information Technology and multimedia studies.
A further 45 Namibian students are expected to graduate later this year and will thus require their qualifications to be evaluated by the NQA.