Private higher education institutions under the embattled Educor Group have for a long time been plagued by a myriad of problems, including allegations of awarding passes to non-deserving students, and non-payment of staff. Photographer: Leon Lestrade / Independent Newspapers.
Embattled private college giant, Education Investment Corporation Limited (Educor) group, running four of the recently deregistered colleges -- Damelin, Lyceum, ICESA and City Varsity -- says it is surprised by the minister’s decision to deregister four of its colleges.
“It has come to our attention that a notice, dated July 2023, was published by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) despite ongoing communication and engagement between our organisation and various senior individuals within the department,” the group’s spokesperson, Surina Baijnath, told The Star on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande, confirmed that his department had come to the decision to revoke the higher education institution status of four private college brands.
According to the department, the decision came after Educor and its colleges had not issued audited financial statements to the government, including tax clearance certificates since 2020.
This being a requirement for accreditation, the department, decided to deregister four of its private colleges.
According to the minister, the group has no choice but to now stop enrolling new students and phase out students already attending the colleges. Also, to reimburse any student who has paid fees for education and to stop all operations.
However, this news has caught the institution by surprise as there were ongoing discussions with the department to comply with the requirements.
“We are extremely surprised by the publication of this notice, particularly given the ongoing discussions and efforts to resolve the matter amicably,” said Baitjnath.
“As a result, we are currently pursuing an appeal process with the DHET and are also considering our legal position with the assistance of our attorneys,” Baitjnath added.
The Higher Education Department urged affected students to transfer to other institutions.
The process will affect more than 13 000 students who are registered at the over 10 Educor campuses across South Africa.
IOL also reported that Educor has also been ordered to reimburse students, and if this fails, students are urged to seek legal action.
Some of the allegations faced by the institutions include poorly qualified staff, corruption and bribery, lack of response to requests for refunds, and non-payment of staff salaries.
The decision to revoke the licences of the institutions has been welcomed by the SA Federation of Trade Unions (Saftu), which has been at the forefront of fighting for students and the affected lecturers who last year spent months without being paid their salaries.
Speaking to The Star, Saftu spokesperson Trevor Shaku said Educor only started to pay its employees last month due to pressure from the department.
“They only paid workers rightly in February when they realised that the Department of Higher Education had launched a probe into them.
“Most lecturers at Damelin College were employed permanently before Covid-19. During Covid-19, they were retrenched and immediately rehired, but this time on fixed-term contracts. These workers have been put on fixed-term contracts since late 2020,” Shaku said.
Saftu said this was in violation of Section 198B of the Labour Relations Act (LRA) which provides for employees who are employed on fixed-term contracts to be deemed permanent if the contracts are extended longer than three months.
Meanwhile, distance learning students affected by the Educor deregistration will be receiving support from Oxbridge Academy, the distance learning division of JSE-listed ADvTECH.
This follows the pledge of support by The Independent Institute of Education, ADvTECH’s higher education division.
Siyavuya Makubalo, marketing manager of Oxbridge Academy, said ADvTECH’s support for distance learners will come as a welcome relief to affected students, ensuring that no student is left behind.
“We are committed to helping students continue with their distance studies successfully and without interruption,” she said.
Students can continue with their studies without delay, and would only need to submit their statements of results.
Makubalo said Oxbridge Academy has initiated a centralised process to ensure students are quickly and correctly advised.
The Star
siyabonga.sithole@inl.co.za