How to tell real college from a fake
An elderly farmer from Mpumalanga is recovering in hospital after he was attacked and shot three times on his farm. File photo. An elderly farmer from Mpumalanga is recovering in hospital after he was attacked and shot three times on his farm. File photo.
Pretoria - Authorities, including the police and the Department of Higher Education, are repeatedly issuing warnings for prospective students to steer clear of bogus colleges and educational scams, but how do students know?
Dr Felicity Coughlan, director of The Independent Institute of Education, says that because the private higher education sector is highly regulated in South Africa, with information readily available in prescribed formats, it is easy to identify credible institutions and their campuses if you know what to look for.
“All the key information about the registration of an institution is available in the Register of Private Higher Education Institutions kept by the Department of Higher Education and Training, and the information is also readily available from reputable institutions,” she says.
“There are also a few key questions to ask to which there are some simple answers, and if an institution is able to respond appropriately, it is worth considering.”
Coughlan says prospective students can do the following checks:
- All private higher education institutions need to be registered with the department. Any credible campus must be able to show you a certificate to that effect, which details the campus, provider and qualifications.
- All higher education qualifications need to be accredited by the Higher Education Quality Committee of the Council on Higher Education - if they are not accredited they will not appear on the certificate referred to above.
- All qualifications must be registered on the NQF by Saqa and students should ask for the Saqa NQF identity numbers.
Meanwhile, a bogus further education and training (FET) college which had operated for at least 12 years, was closed down in Seshego near Polokwane, the Hawks said on Tuesday.
Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said the 57-year-old college owner, his 45-year-old wife and a 31-year-old accomplice had been arrested. The investigation into the college came after the Department of Higher Education received inquiries from students wanting to know whether the college was registered with the department. A total of R69 250 in cash was seized.
Mulaudzi said the owner claimed it had been registered with the department as Seshego Commercial and Computer College.
Pretoria News and Sapa