How colleges are duping students

Some syndicates in the country have been forging college examination papers, transcripts, certificates and agreements with foreign examination bodies to swindle unsuspecting students out of millions of kwacha in tuition and examination fees, Weekend Nation has learnt.

Weekend Nation has also learnt that some tertiary institutions, which were registered as colleges to offer diploma certificates, have been upgrading themselves into universities and, in the process, started offering degree studies without government approval.

Correspondence we have seen shows that government has of late pounced on some of the people who are part of the syndicates and revoked registration certificates for some colleges.

One of the colleges implicated in the scam is African College which has been operating in the country as having partnered Kenya Institute of Social Work and Community Development (KISWCD) to offer diploma courses and administer examinations in community health and nutrition and dietetics management.

Upon Malawi Government inquiry last month, African College submitted a copy of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with KISWCD to Technical and Entrepreneurial, Vocational Education and Training (Teveta) signed by KISWCD principal Gilbert K. Bore.

However, after Teveta further inquired from the Kenyan institution on the authenticity of the purported MoU, KISWCD disowned the agreement and described all papers submitted to Teveta as fake.

“Kenya Institute of Social Work and Community Development categorically states that the said MoU and the purported letter from Gilbert K. Bore are all forged documents and, therefore, null and void.

“Any training, workshop and certificates done or issued, if any, in the name of Kenya Institute of Social Work and Community Development are not valid and the institution will not be held responsible. I request Teveta to take the necessary measures to bring to justice the management team of African College in Malawi,” reads a letter from KISWCD director of programmes Benjamin Mutie.

Another correspondence Weekend Nation has seen shows that some students in the country have been offered diploma certificates by foreign institutions which have no mandate to issue qualifications or whose mandate period elapsed.

One of such institutions is Trans-Atlantic College in the UK whose qualifications government says need to be investigated.

“Kindly note that we have been able to verify that Trans-Atlantic College was an accredited college by the Accreditation Service for International Schools, Colleges and Universities (ASIC) over the period 6th August 2008 to 27th April 2012. This proves that the college indeed existed at one point in time.

“However, ASIC accreditation did not cover authority and validation to issue qualifications. This means there is still need to investigate the credibility of the qualifications that were issued by Trans-Atlantic College to Malawians that were studying locally,” reads another government correspondence.

In an interview on Tuesday, Teveta senior public relations officer Lewis Msasa said various authorities, including Teveta and police have been probing African College and Trans-Atlantic College in connection with offering fake certificates.

“Teveta has come across some unscrupulous individuals who are using bogus examination and awarding bodies such as Global Education Connect and Trans Atlantic College. These individuals are also posing as the bodies’ agents or directors of unrecognised business colleges.

“In the process, these individuals are swindling students’ money by awarding them bogus    and unrecognisable certificates, diplomas and degrees, and claiming that the awarding bodies are based in United Kingdom,” said Msasa.

He also said Teveta has since revoked a registration certificate of a Blantyre-based Western College which he said was operating as Western University of Malawi when it was registered as Western College.