Four private institutions deregistered

The Department of Higher Education and Training has cancelled the registration of four Educor institutions after failing to submit proof of their financial viability to the department.

Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, announced the deregistration of City Varsity, Damelin, Icesa City Campus, and Lyceum College, during a media briefing held in Pretoria on Tuesday.

‘’Failure to comply More specifically, these four institutions failed to comply with the following requirements of the Act and Regulations: Fulfil the requirements for registration contemplated in Section 57(2)(b) of the Act; and Discharge its responsibilities as required by Chapter 6 of the Regulations.’’

‘’In particular, the Educor institutions have failed to submit their annual financial statements and the tax clearance certificates for the 2021 and 2022 years, as proof of their financial viability. We are now moving into the 2023 cycle. The four Educor institutions were required to lodge an appeal with the Minister on or before 26 September 2023. They then requested an extension to 28 February 2024, and are now seeking a further extension.’’

‘’In addition to failing to submit evidence of their financial viability to the Department, the four Educor brands can be deemed as dysfunctional and this is mainly measured against the daily complaints and grievances received from students, most of which remain unresolved.’’

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Nzimande says the complaints include poor quality of teaching and learning; lack of proper administrative support; poorly qualified staff; corruption and bribery; lack of response for requests for refunds and lack of professionalism. The students also complained about exploitation of poor students; non-payment of staff salaries; and under-payment of staff salaries. 

‘’These complaints extend to the other brands such as INTEC College (Pty) Ltd and Damelin Correspondence College (Pty) Ltd, which fall under the jurisdiction of the Quality Council of Trades and Occupations (QCTO). The QCTO has not been able to restore stability within these two institutions and students continue to be exploited.’’

‘’These complaints also extend to the offering of the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETA) accredited programmes. The SETAs have not been able to restore stability with the Educor institutions and students continue to be exploited.’’

He said the Higher Education Quality Committee has withdrawn the accreditation of some programmes for City Varsity (Pty) Ltd, Damelin (Pty) Ltd and Lyceum College (Pty) Ltd. The Minister also accused the institutions of misrepresenting student enrolment, by submitting incorrect information, which claimed to have 50 000 learners in the system. The 2022 annual reports indicated a total of 13 096 students enrolled; City Varsity with 540, Damelin with 4 012, Icesa with 145, and Lyceum with 8 399 enrolled students.

Nzimande announced that some of the institutions’ sites have closed suddenly after failing to pay the rent, staff salaries and/or the municipality.

The sites of some institutions closed suddenly for reasons of failure to pay the rent, staff salaries and/or the municipality. These are the following:

Damelin (Pty) Ltd: The sites at Braamfontein, Port Elizabeth, Cape Town, East London closed suddenly since they were in arrears with the municipality and rental and students were left stranded; and

Lyceum College (Pty) Ltd: The only site was closed due to an eviction order by the landlord for failure to pay the rent and students were left stranded.

The minister says its directorate wrote to these four Educor institutions on 8 January 2024, and requested them to respond to a list of allegations of corruption against them. To date, he says, they have not responded

As a way forward, Nzimande said Educor will be given a period in which to phase out pipeline students and Educor would have to reimburse students where it is due.

‘’The latest numbers of enrolled students as per the 2022 annual report is 13 096, not 50 000, as Educor claims; One challenge for students is the transfer of credits considering the RPL and Credit Accumulation Transfer policy; and Another challenge could be students repeating some modules or paying extra fees.

The minister urged affected staff to seek the assistance of the Labor Court and the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration.

‘’Under these circumstances and with the information at our disposal, it would be unconscionable to maintain the registration status of these four private institutions and allow ourselves to become complicit in gross governance and compliance failures.’’

‘’Most concerning, by doing so, we would be failing as the Department in our obligation to protect the rights and dignity of students, who simply wanted to acquire an academic qualification with the view to improve their lives and that of their families.’’

 

Done By: Mitchum George