Bema College loses accreditation

THE Namibia Qualifications Authority yesterday officially withdrew its recognition of privately owned Bema College of Namibia as a recognised educational institute.

This follows the termination of franchising agreements between the college and two of its accreditation bodies, namely the City and Guilds of London Institute and the Institute of Commercial Management (ICM) – both London-based institutions. Speaking to the media yesterday, NQA Director Frans Gertze said after that announcement, students who enrol with Bema College “should know that they do it at their own risk because neither City and Guilds, nor ICM will issue them with any certificate.”The suspension, the body said, was in effect since August, adding that Bema had not made use of the seven days allowed to appeal the decision.ICM also issued a statement, which read: “Following lengthy discussions with…the NQA regarding the current standing of Bema College, ICM concurs that there is substantial evidence to warrant terminating our working relationship with Bema until such time as they demonstrate significant improvements in governance, performance and resource provision.”Gertze said that the NQA, City and Guilds and ICM would arrange for students enrolled at Bema to write exams at the end of the year, but thereafter no qualification from the college would be accepted as valid.”Affected students should not despair but should wait for the information that would be made available by City and Guilds and ICM on the 30th of September 2005,” he said.Bernard Makau, Executive Director of Bema, said that he would not accept the actions taken against his institution lying down.”These are personal attacks and vendettas against me just because I’m from Kenya.I invite all the press to come look at Bema’s facilities and compare [them] with others.”He said the college and its students would stage a protest march on Monday, and would hand a petition to Government asking for the dissolution of the NQA Council.His argument was that David Namwandi, a member of the NQA Council, was also the owner of the International University of Management, “a direct competitor of ours.””What’s the difference between this and corruption?” he asked.Asked about the latter, Gertze said that Namwandi was in fact the owner of the IUN, as well as a member of the Council.”But we have a Council of 36 members, so it was not a Namwandi decision.Neither was the decision taken by Council based on our decisions, but it was based on the findings of City and Guilds.In March, City and Guilds and the NQA visited Bema College to assess its performance, but did not complete its inspection of the institution.This was reportedly due to the unavailability of some documentation.A second visit, says Makau, was not done, although he acknowledges that City and Guilds’ Country Director for South Africa, Juan Visser, visited the institution on the scheduled date.”Juan is not a verifier,” Makau protested yesterday.”He brought us materials, and wanted to see the first report they had done,” he argued.Bema College has approximately 300 students enrolled in information technology, telecommunication systems, tourism and English language courses.Speaking to the media yesterday, NQA Director Frans Gertze said after that announcement, students who enrol with Bema College “should know that they do it at their own risk because neither City and Guilds, nor ICM will issue them with any certificate.”The suspension, the body said, was in effect since August, adding that Bema had not made use of the seven days allowed to appeal the decision.ICM also issued a statement, which read: “Following lengthy discussions with…the NQA regarding the current standing of Bema College, ICM concurs that there is substantial evidence to warrant terminating our working relationship with Bema until such time as they demonstrate significant improvements in governance, performance and resource provision.”Gertze said that the NQA, City and Guilds and ICM would arrange for students enrolled at Bema to write exams at the end of the year, but thereafter no qualification from the college would be accepted as valid.”Affected students should not despair but should wait for the information that would be made available by City and Guilds and ICM on the 30th of September 2005,” he said.Bernard Makau, Executive Director of Bema, said that he would not accept the actions taken against his institution lying down.”These are personal attacks and vendettas against me just because I’m from Kenya.I invite all the press to come look at Bema’s facilities and compare [them] with others.”He said the college and its students would stage a protest march on Monday, and would hand a petition to Government asking for the dissolution of the NQA Council.His argument was that David Namwandi, a member of the NQA Council, was also the owner of the International University of Management, “a direct competitor of ours.””What’s the difference between this and corruption?” he asked.Asked about the latter, Gertze said that Namwandi was in fact the owner of the IUN, as well as a member of the Council.”But we have a Council of 36 members, so it was not a Namwandi decision.Neither was the decision taken by Council based on our decisions, but it was based on the findings of City and Guilds.In March, City and Guilds and the NQA visited Bema College to assess its performance, but did not complete its inspection of the institution.This was reportedly due to the unavailability of some documentation.A second visit, says Makau, was not done, although he acknowledges that City and Guilds’ Country Director for South Africa, Juan Visser, visited the institution on the scheduled date.”Juan is not a verifier,” Makau protested yesterday.”He brought us materials, and wanted to see the first report they had done,” he argued.Bema College has approximately 300 students enrolled in information technology, telecommunication systems, tourism and English language courses.