Counterfeit Degrees And Ph.D.s Threaten Zimbabwe’s Education System - ZIMCHE
The Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (ZIMCHE) has raised concern over the growing number of unregistered institutions operating illegally and awarding fraudulent undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications, including bogus earned and honorary Ph.Ds.
As the national regulatory and quality assurance body for higher education, ZIMCHE is responsible for overseeing the accreditation, registration, and evaluation of higher learning institutions to ensure they meet the required standards.
In a statement, ZIMCHE lamented that these unlawful activities undermine the integrity and quality of Zimbabwe’s higher education system, posing significant risks to the public. The statement reads:
Conferment and Use of Fake/Fraudulent Degrees
The Zimbabwe Council for Higher Education (ZIMCHE) has noted with grave concern the proliferation of unregistered institutions operating unlawfully and conferring fraudulent undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications, including purportedly earned and honourary Ph.Ds.
These activities undermine the integrity and quality of Zimbabwe’s higher education system and pose significant risks to the public.
The ZIMCHE has identified several unregistered institutions engaged in these illegal practices and has issued closure orders to curb their operations.
Unfortunately, some institutions persist in defying the law, continuing to enrol students and issuing fraudulent degrees.
Of particular concern is also the use of these fraudulent qualifications and false titles such as “Professor” or “Doctor” by officials from these unregistered institutions as well as recipients of the qualifications.
In the case of the latter, recipients include unsuspecting members of the public who are duped out of their hard-earned money, while in some cases the recipients are willing accomplices to academic and qualifications fraud.
As the regulatory authority mandated under The ZIMCHE Act [Chapter 25:27], the ZIMCHE is committed to safeguarding the standards, quality, and credibility of Zimbabwe’s Higher Education System.
In this regard, unregistered institutions are unequivocally warned to cease operations immediately, withdraw all fraudulent qualifications, and desist from issuing or conferring any degrees including purportedly earned and honourary Ph.Ds.
Recipients of fraudulent qualifications and false titles are strongly advised to stop using these credentials or risk legal consequences, including civil and criminal prosecution.
To protect stakeholders including students, employers, and the public, the ZIMCHE has initiated investigations into these unlawful activities.
Appropriate legal measures will be taken against both unregistered institutions and individuals found complicit in academic fraud.
Members of the public are urged to exercise vigilance by verifying the accreditation status of such institutions with the ZIMCHE before enrolling in any programmes.
Similarly, employers are encouraged to thoroughly authenticate qualifications presented by prospective employees with the ZIMCHE.
Members of the public should always be on the lookout for unregistered institutions, that in some cases frequently change their locations to evade detection.
Some of these institutions are not owned by Zimbabweans, while others claim affiliation with dubious “international” universities that are not even registered and accredited in their countries of origin.
The ZIMCHE remains resolute in its mission to uphold the integrity and quality of Zimbabwe’s higher education system and is intensifying efforts to ensure that only accredited institutions operate within our borders, maintaining the integrity and high-quality standards that have been built over decades.
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