Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT) has made the news in Namibia after some students encountered accreditation issues for courses in the university's Botswana campus.
This comes after a Namibian report alleging that 15 students with disabilities graduated without accreditation under the Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA) at the campus in Botswana.
LUCT senior vice-president Gail Phung told Malaysiakini that Namibia students financial assistance fund (NSFAF) acting chief executive officer Kennedy Kandume said that it was due to an accreditation process by the Botswana Qualifications Authority (BQA) which was interrupted when they switched to align to the Southern African Development Community framework.
"This is a group of Namibian students who studied in Limkokwing Botswana. Approval was given by the BQA in 2016 to run these diploma courses in Botswana but unfortunately, the change took place in 2017," she said.
In an article by The Namibian, 15 Nambian students claimed they had wasted four years at the university after being issued with unaccredited diplomas following their graduation in 2019.
The NQA reportedly told them that while certificate courses at the university were accredited, their diplomas in television and radio broadcasting as well as in retailing and merchandising were not.
It was also reported that NQA spokesperson Absalom Absalom confirmed that Limkokwing University is not accredited in Namibia.
In 2016 the disabled students were sent to the university by the local Directorate of Disability Affairs, funded by the NSFAF, in an effort to empower them.
Now the students report facing difficulty in seeking employment due to their unrecognised qualifications.
According to Namibian deputy minister of disability affairs Alexia Manombe-Ncube, the directorate assumed responsibility on the matter as they did not ensure accreditation for some of the courses at the time of sending the students, despite prior knowledge of its non-accreditation.
She said the directorate had only sent enquiries about the matter to the high commission of Namibia in Botswana and received a response that LUCT Botswana was in the process of sorting out the situation.
Meanwhile, Kandume told The Namibian that it was simply a matter of time before the qualifications would be accredited.
“There is nothing wrong with the qualifications. It is just a matter of time and for the process to be sorted out by the BQA to be followed by the institution, and then the qualifications are accredited.
“It is not to say that the qualifications and its entities are not recognised, and therefore it's a waste of money, but it is a matter of the process being followed for the accreditation and recognition of the qualifications to be completed,” he was quoted as saying.
The LUCT Botswana regional director of academic management Onalenna Phambuka added that both diplomas have been approved by the BQA.
LUCT also has campuses in Lesotho, Eswatini, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Rwanda.
Previously, the Sierra Leone Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) had conducted a probe into the university for alleged misappropriation of public property and revenue, abuse of office, and abuse of position.
The probe was ended after confirmation that the country's former education, science and technology minister Minkailu Bah, had enabled a campus to be set up without following due processes.
The university was founded in 1991 and named after its president Lim Kok Wing who passed away this June at the age of 75.
Recently, LUCT faced accreditation issues in its Malaysia campus, with over 840 former LUCT Malaysia students having been stuck in limbo over accreditation issues for some of its courses.
Among the courses affected were MBA in Project Management, Master of Science in Software Engineering, Master of Communications, MBA in Sports Management, MBA in Human Resources Management, MBA in Finance and Banking, MBA in Communication and Public Relations, PhD in Management.
Courses like Bachelor of Cloud Computing Technology (BCCT) had their accreditation revoked and have yet to be obtained, leaving many facing difficulties seeking employment.
In September, 10 former LUCT international students - hailing from Bangladesh, Iraq, Senegal, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria - who undertook the BCCT programme sought RM5 million in damages from the university for misrepresentation, negligence, and breach of contract.
The Higher Education Ministry had also instructed the university to reapply for accreditation. - Mkini
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