Johannesburg – Higher Education, Science, and Innovation Minister Dr. Blade Nzimande on Thursday warned students and parents against being lured to enrol at illegal or fly-by-night colleges.
Fly-by-night colleges are not registered as institutions of learning with the correct Sector Education and Training Authorities, the Department of Higher Education and Training, 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, said Dr. Nzimande.
These illegal colleges offer compromised qualifications which are not recognised for employment purposes or further studying.
The minister said that the department was successfully shutting down illegal operators.
While the department is eliminating these unregistered colleges, many students still enroll with them, and risk being handed fake qualifications at the end of their “studies”.
However, Dr. Nzimande said: 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.
The minister added that the department was working closely with law enforcement agencies to close down on these colleges.
Dr. Nzimande advises 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 regularly.
The website address is http://www.dhet.gov.za/resources/registers.
