Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training Mimmy Gondwe condemned so-called "bogus colleges" for denying young people employment opportunities by issuing unaccredited qualifications.
Speaking during a two-day Bogus Colleges Awareness campaign in Durban on Wednesday, Gondwe says these colleges have a severe impact on students and their families.
According to the Deputy Minister, KwaZulu-Natal, which has the second-largest student population after Gauteng, faces challenges with the proliferation of unregistered private colleges.
Some registered institutions also offer unaccredited programmes which exacerbate the issue.
Some of the learners are the only hope for their families. Their parents invest in their education so that their child can be qualified and have a successful career... Now, if a learner studies via a bogus college, they are effectively robbed of an opportunity to gain a legitimate qualification and employment opportunities. It is also robbing the student and their parents of hard-earned money,
The awareness campaign is a collaborative effort led by the Deputy Minister in partnership with the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, the Department of Employment and Labour, and the Department of Home Affairs.
Nkosenhle Madlala, Chairperson of eThekwini Municipality’s Governance and Human Capital Committee says its their responsibility to ensure that the thousands of people have access to higher education and register with recognised and legal institutions
As a university City, we have a responsibility to ensure that the thousands of people who come to our City to access higher education register with recognised and legal institutions
Durban is home to the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Durban University of Technology, Mangosuthu University of Technology, several TVET colleges, and various private institutions of higher learning.
Gondwe and other stakeholders inspected several private colleges in Durban’s city centre.
While some institutions were registered with the Department of Higher Education and Training, compliance issues were noted. Students also raised concerns over fee payments and the lack of refunds.
The Deputy Minister instructed department officials to assist affected students and reiterated the importance of lawful operations.
They are allowed to operate, but they have to operate within lawful parameters, and that is what we are trying to ensure—that their operations are legal, registered with us, and that the programmes they’re offering are accredited by our quality assurance bodies.
Further oversight campaigns are set to take place over the coming weeks.
