29 March 2024

NZQA cancels accreditation of NITT for Business courses

The New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) has withdrawn the accreditation for Auckland-based New Zealand Institute of Technical Training Limited (NITT) to provide New Zealand Diploma in Business Accounting, Administration and Technology (Level 5 and 6).

NZQA’s withdrawal of accreditation earlier this month means that NITT can no longer deliver these programmes to students.

Majority of the 67 affected students are from India.

NIIT was first registered as a private training establishment (PTE) in 1998 and its current managing director is Kulbir Singh. The institute is believed to be operating from Queens St., Auckland and Ronwood Ave., Manukau. NewsViews has approached Kulbir for comments and response is still awaited.

NZQA took this action because of serious issues identified with NITT’s assessment practices in the Business Diplomas. Many of the assessments NITT marked as a ‘pass’ should not have been passed.

As a result, the students who were enrolled at NITT at the time NZQA cancelled accreditation, cannot automatically be awarded credit towards a qualification based on credit they gained at NITT.

Efforts are being made to enrol them with other private training providers, but those providers would have to ensure that the student has the necessary English proficiency and the course is appropriate for the student’s expectations and academic capability

NZQA’s acting Deputy Chief Executive Quality Assurance, Eve McMahon, says NZQA has monitored NITT since July 2018 and has found serious issues with the quality of their assessment and moderation.

“This situation has raised ongoing concerns about the capability of NITT’s assessors to make quality assessment decisions and the standard of the teaching programme, resulting in the decision to withdraw accreditation.”

Ms McMahon says the welfare of students is paramount. “We appreciate this is a difficult time for the 67 affected students and our priority is to support them as much as possible.

“We are committed to working with students over the coming weeks to provide whatever practical support we can. We are liaising with other agencies such as Immigration New Zealand and the Public Trust to get the best outcomes for students.”

NZQA has also issued a compliance notice directing NITT to provide a full refund of fees for all students affected by the accreditation withdrawal and consequent course closure.

If this institute does not provide a full refund of fees to all Business students, the Education Act allows NZQA to immediately cancel NITT’s registration as a private training establishment.

In the NZQA’s Report of External Evaluation and Review of 30 Nov 2017 (latest available), NITT was found to be “ not yet confident in educational performance, and in capability in self-assessment.”

Assessments reviewed by the evaluation team indicated “some weaknesses in assessment records, of assessor decision-making, detection of academic dishonesty, and provision of feedback to learners.”

NZQA confirmed that NITT can now only deliver the New Zealand Certificate in English language (Academic) (Level 3) and the New Zealand Certificate in English Language (Academic) (Level 4).

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