Allexer Namundjembo Several individuals have submitted forged Namibia Senior Secondary Certificates (NSSC) when applying for jobs, the ministry of education has said. The directorate of national examinations and assessment (DNEA), according to education executive director Mbumba Haitengela, discovered the discrepancies during the verification process.  “Upon further review against the official national examinations database, discrepancies were found between the submitted documents and the original examination records,” Haitengela said. The DNEA flagged multiple cases of forgery during the authentication of academic documents submitted to both public and private institutions.  It expressed concern about the growing number of forged qualifications submitted for verification. Haitengela said the ministry condemns all forms of forgery or misrepresentation of qualifications. “Such actions not only undermine the integrity of the education system but also constitute a serious criminal offence under Section 123 (1) (d) and (e) of the Education Act, 2020 (Act No. 3 of 2020), as well as relevant provisions of the Public Service Staff Rules,” he said. The ministry has urged employers to conduct thorough background checks and work closely with the DNEA to verify all academic qualifications submitted by prospective employees. Over the years, several incidents have brought the issue of forged qualifications into the spotlight.  In 2021, Ohangwena education director Isak Hamatwi revealed that an investigation found teacher Fransina Mwetufa had forged her qualifications. In 2022, a senior staff member at a regional education office in Kavango East was dismissed after using a fake Grade 12 certificate to get the job. A year later, the Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA) flagged a case involving a fake diploma submitted by an applicant, allegedly from a South African college, raising concerns about cross-border fraud.

On Tuesday, I became a PhD candidate. If you're not familiar with the process (I certainly wasn't until well into grad school), when you start your PhD, you are a "PhD student" until you complete your candidacy exams. For me, this involved a 3-hour oral exam with four examiners, one chair, and my two supervisors who were only allowed to observe. We did this all online (because Covid). Each examiner had sent me readings earlier in the semester. The amount ranged from five papers from one examiner