Don’t fall prey to bogus colleges, warns education department

MINISTER of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Dr Blade Nzimande, has warned students and parents to be careful of illegal or ‘fly-by-night’ colleges.

The ‘fly-by-night’ colleges are not registered as institutions of learning with the correct Sector Education and Training Authorities (Setas), the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) or other relevant bodies.

“These institutions lure and mislead future students into believing that these colleges offer qualifications that are recognised by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA),” said Nzimande.

“These illegal colleges offer compromised qualifications which are not recognised for employment purposes or for further studying,” added Minister Nzimande.

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The Minister said that the department has been successful in shutting down these illegal operators.

However, while the department may be hard at work eliminating these unregistered colleges, there are still many students who continue to register and are unlawfully granted these fake qualifications.

“The number of colleges that are operating illegally has decreased tremendously over the years. The decrease can be attributed to our monitoring awareness campaigns and our collaboration with both print and electronic media,” said Nzimande.

The minister advised students who want to enroll at private colleges to check the registration status of such private colleges with the department through its toll-free number 0800-872-222.

Alternatively, students can log on to the website of the department where the ‘Register of Private Colleges’ is published and updated on a regular basis.

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