Premier Refilwe Mtshweni-Tsipane has recently announced the suspension of a chief director of the Department of Education.
This follows a probe into the department’s international bursary scheme, which is intended to fund local students to study in Russia.
Mtshweni-Tsipane embarked on a trip to the Russian Federation in November after various students had reported that their tuition fees had not been paid, which led to them being evicted from student residences, and that they had not received their respective allowances.
The premier has spoken publicly about the information that has also led to the precautionary suspension of the chief director as investigations advance.
She said there is a memorandum of understanding with the Russian Federation that has allowed 221 students to be enrolled in higher education institutions in the country.
ALSO READ: University of Mpumalanga lecture honours Archbishop Makgoba
“There is an agency in Russia that went to the universities and told them they would get them students from foreign countries who want to study there in Russia,” Mtshweni-Tsipane said.
“They then entered into contracts with various universities in Russia in exchange for these students to go and study at those universities. The students from our province were then taken over by the agency, with whom we had no contract. They took over the process and handed the students over to the universities.
“Upon receipt of the invoices, the agency would then generate their own invoices in their own name instead of taking the original invoices (from the universities) as they are and attached their management fee. That has been a problem for us, which was also raised by the Auditor-General. When you compare the fee structures from the various universities, there are discrepancies.”
ALSO READ: Mpumalanga Department of Social Development heads campaign against GBV
She said parents, students and universities will be engaged to investigate the matter even further.
“Some universities have co-operated with our probe, while some still insist on being paid through the agency. There is accountability that should be taken, and if there is money to be paid back to the government, let it be so,” said Mtshweni-Tsipane.
