The Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Mimmy Gondwe has called for more awareness and investigative interventions into fake colleges across the country.
She expressed concern about the dire consequences students face from obtaining qualifications from unregistered institutions.
This emerged when she led a two-day bogus colleges awareness campaign in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal which is said to have the second-largest concentration of students after Gauteng.
“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 tomorrow.
Now, if a learner studies via a bogus college, they’re effectively robbed of an opportunity to gain a legitimate qualification and employment opportunity.
It is also robbing the student and their parents of hard-earned money,” warned Gondwe.
The awareness campaign is in collaboration with the Department of Employment and Labour and the Department of Home Affairs.
Unregistered institutions of higher learning have over the years been a persisting challenge in the country, often leaving victims, destitute and their dreams crushed.
Gondwe indicated that in some instances, private colleges are registered with the Department, but are found to be non-compliant.
“They’re allowed to operate, but they have to do so within lawful parameters and that is what we’re trying to ensure that their operations are legal and are registered with us and that the programmes they’re offering are accredited by our quality assurance bodies, Umalusi, QCTO and the Council on Higher Education,” explained Gondwe.
The Department has further called on parents and students to be vigilant and ascertain institutions of higher learning with the Department to avoid being scammed.
The Deputy Minister highlighted that from the Department have been instructed to provide assistance to all students.
