The Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), Oracle, Microsoft and Thomson Prometric have joined forces to promote employers` awareness of fraudulent IT qualifications and other issues surrounding internationally recognised IT certifications.
The organisations are to conduct a joint employer awareness campaign, beginning next month, highlighting the threat of fraud in the IT training industry, the need to verify qualifications, and the relationship between international and local standards.
CompTIA Africa`s regional director Loraine Vorster says the awareness campaign is a service to employers to help them streamline the process of employing graduates in the IT industry. She says the four e-mail campaign partners aim to restore employers` confidence in international certifications.
Vorster says many employers have lost trust in some international qualifications because of the proliferation of "dumpsites" where exam candidates are able to view the content of exams on the Internet. She says employers can be assured of the quality of training received by a job applicant by verifying qualifications through CompTIA or the relevant certification vendor. Certification provides the employer with proof that the candidate has achieved a certain level of competence. Only those candidates who have taken the official exams at a recognised Prometric or VUE test centre will have their qualification listed on the CompTIA database.
CompTIA is well-known in IT training circles for its efforts to rid the industry of fraudulent qualifications and fly-by-night training operations. Vorster says CompTIA has succeeded in legal challenges of "dumpsites". In SA, the organisation has already won a case against a company claiming to offer the A+ certification and other CompTIA certifications without meeting the standards required of legitimate CompTIA members.
"A second court battle is being fought in the Durban High Court, where CompTIA is suing a company for loss of income. We are hoping to show that it can be very costly to use the CompTIA logo without permission. Fortunately, most companies either comply with CompTIA standards or drop their claims to offering CompTIA supported qualifications."
In addition to waging legal battles, Vorster says a growing number of companies are endorsing international standards. "The more companies like IBM, Nashua, Gestetner and HP that endorse genuine certifications, the less likely disreputable training companies will find a market for their courses. We plan to rid the industry of 'attendance certificates` that are no proof of competence."
She says in the three years that CompTIA has been in SA, significant progress has been made against fraudulent training institutions. In a CompTIA initiative, most local vendors of international certifications work together to identify and expose any company abusing trademarks.
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