Huge recognition for NQA boss The head of the Namibia Qualifications Authority (NQA) Franz Gertze has been selected to serve on the board of directors of an international organisation with a 280-strong membership and which deals with the practice of quality assurance in higher education.Gertze, whose term took effect on 12 October 2016, has completed training in quality management in Germany and is registered with the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) as an assessor.
Gertze will serve on the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) Board of Directors. The appointment was confirmed by the president of the INQAAHE, Susanna Karakhanyan during her visit to Namibia recently.
Karakhanyan expressed that Gertze is the most deserving candidate to fill the position because of his firm commitment and passion for quality assurance in the higher education sector.
“Gertze is a person whose passion for and dedication to quality assurance and that of the Namibian higher education sector, in particular, is hard not to notice. Throughout his higher membership with INQAAHE he has been able to contribute to the fruitful and constructive dialogue on quality assurance, thus demonstrating the many values an actual leader could offer for a system enhancement,” Karakhanyan noted.
The NQA CEO will be the only African representative on the INQAAHE Board.
“This presents unique benefits for Namibia and the southern African region at large. Most notably, sharing the challenges facing the local higher education sector at the international level allows Namibia to receive the necessary support required to address the challenges and enhance the sector,” the NQA said in a statement.
“By contributing to the activities of the INQAAHE, Gertze is best positioned to keep the Namibian higher education system in line with the most recent international trends in higher education in general and quality assurance in particular, as well as bring in the accumulated expertise to better serve the southern African higher education system at large,” Karakhanyan added. “This is a feather in the cap of Namibia and the highest acknowledgement of our ability to positively influence and enhance higher education systems in the world,” Gertze said in reference to his appointment.
KEITH VRIES