The problem is bogus courses, not colleges, says Dept of Education

The Department of Higher Education and Training says the main problem are accredited private colleges offering unaccredited courses.

Thabiso Goba

Berea News

January 30, 2020

The Department of Higher Education and Training set up their tent right on the busy intersection on Joe Slovo and Anton Lembede Street. DHET was warning prospective students to guard against bogus colleges and unaccredited courses.

WITH the academic calendar set to start, there are many private college campuses ramping up their advertising budgets to try and enroll students at their institutions.

The specter of bogus private colleges has long plagued Durban prompting the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) to set up an information tent on the busy intersection of Joe Slovo and Anton Lembede Street in Durban last week.

Their mission was to crackdown on bogus institutions in the city and help prospective students not fall prey to them.

Sibusiso Ndebele, 19, visited the DHET tent to find out if the private college he was planning to register for was properly accredited.

Ndebele was one of many students who got “scammed” by Sandton Technical College (Durban branch), when he was studying for a National Diploma in Policing, an unaccredited course.

“Those people played with us but I learned my lesson, so now I want to do things the right way,” he said.

Shaheeda Essack, Director of Registration of Private Higher Education Institute at DHET, said the main problem was that a lot of colleges were accredited but offered unaccredited courses.

“Some colleges (also) have accreditation for some programmes and not others,” she said.

Essack gave an example of Durban City Campus, a legitimately registered private institution that was accredited to offer Human Resources Management but not Home Based Care as it had advertised.

Berea Mail visited the Durban City Campus where the management team indicated they would issue a statement in due time to address the matter.

In total, DHET visited 15 private institutions in Durban, and only three were found to be problematic; Durban City Campus, Maharishi Invincibility Institute and Crane International Academy FET College.

Maharishi Institute is an American based private university that was founded in 1973 by Indian guru, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

It has two campuses in SA, in Johannesburg and Durban and its flagship programme is a Bachelor of Business Administration Degree which is not accredited by DHET.

Nkosinathi Nkosi, Marketing manager at Maharishi Institute, confirmed their course is not accredited in SA but it is in the USA.

“The course is not offered by us (here in SA), we are basically a study centre. Our students are registered in the USA institution. We are always clear about this fact and our students are well aware of it,” he said.

However, Essack said this was illegal and that the department had warned Maharishi several times about this practice.

Crane International offers an unaccredited National Diploma in Policing which Essack said is very popular among private colleges.

“Some colleges they enter into MOU’s (memorandum of understanding) with each other to offer each other’s programmes and that’s not allowed,” she said.

Crane was approached for comment but no response was received.

Both the South African Police Service and Metro Police say this course is not a gateway to entering the police force.

Requirements to join the SAPS or Metro are a matric certificate and passing a physical and psychological evaluation test.

To check if a course or private institution is registered visit www.dhet.gov.za/resources/Registers or alternatively call DHET’s toll-free number: 080087 2222.

https://bereamail.co.za/185794/the-problem-is-bogus-courses-not-colleges-says-dhet/

Groundbreaking BBBEE deal for Africa’s oldest comms group

Adlip

Money Web
February 23, 2016

 

FCB Africa has concluded a BBBEE deal that it believes will have a profound positive influence on young black women as well as a major impact on South Africa’s economy in the years ahead.

In terms of the deal, which has an effective date of December 1 2015, the Maharishi Institute in Johannesburg has acquired 15% of FCB Africa. These shares will be held in a trust and all profits made in respect of these shares used to pay the tuition and other education-related expenses for young black women who cannot afford to go to university.

The deal boosts FCB’s total black ownership to over 51% and rockets its total black female ownership to over 31%.

FCB’s first BBBEE deal was concluded in 2003 when a consortium called Bourasque acquired 26% of the agency. At that time, shares were also awarded to previously disadvantaged individuals who worked for FCB.

Announcing the deal, FCB Africa CEO Brett Morris could barely contain his enthusiasm.

“As a company that has always been at the forefront of transformation in the advertising sector, this is an incredibly exciting step for us, and one that rounds off a very inclusive and broad-based approach to our economic empowerment initiatives. In addition to prominent business people and the staff ownership we are proud to now include a broad-based scheme that will impact hundreds of women over time,” Morris enthused.

“Yes, I’m delighted that the deal means that FCB more than ticks all the boxes when it comes to the BEE scorecard. Yes, I’m thrilled that our new status – 51% black owned and 32% black female owned – is a major advantage for our clients when it comes to filling in their own BEE scorecards. But I’m over the moon at the potential this deal could unleash over the years, and look forward to witnessing the impact the graduates have on South Africa’s economy when they enter the workforce as empowered, skilled and well-educated citizens.”

FCB Worldwide CEO, Carter Murray, added: “Brett and his team at FCB Africa have been searching for a BBBEE initiative that truly aligns with the group’s moral compass and, in the vision and daily work of the Maharishi Institute, they have found it.

“We’re all particularly pleased that partnering with the institute in this way will have an exponential benefit over time. Particularly as, given the realities of South Africa, assisting one woman usually provides assistance to many others who rely on her for support, so the impact will be far-reaching” he said.

“The Maharishi Institute was created in 2007 to take access to tertiary education to another level, to showcase South Africa as a leading innovator in education provision, and support the worldwide breakthrough of consciousness-based education,” said Intitute co-founder, Taddy Blecher.

“More than that, it wanted to provide a supportive environment to ensure that its students, who graduate from South African’s high schools in great need of the experiential skills to make them highly employable, are able to take the steps they need to to achieve a life of success and achievement.

“This nurturing and enabling approach is not understood nor appreciated by all. We are delighted to partner with FCB Africa, whose passion and vision for our country mirrors our own.”

The Maharishi Institute is a non-profit organisation established in June 2007 to develop a new generation of leaders for South Africa. Importantly, it does not offer its own educational qualifications and is not a private higher educational institution.

Instead, the Institute provides financial access to the qualifications of its education partners which students access via distance education, while gaining work experience. These include Maharishi University of Management (US), Regenesys Business School, Cisco Entrepreneur Institute, Microsoft IT Academy, CIDA Learning, COMETSA and Knowledge Horizon, plus others.

It also enriches the distance education learning experience and makes it complete through the provision of comprehensive support services, including work experience, infrastructure access, bridging programmes, and self development programmes.

http://www.moneyweb.co.za/in-depth/breaking-ground-breaking-bbbee-deal-for-africas-oldest-communications-group/

Africa: New Initiative Addresses Africa Skills Gaps

Savious Kwinika

CAJ News AfricaSeptember 28, 2015

Johannesburg — A new partnership has been launched to bridge the digital skills divide across the continent.

Dubbed the SAP Dual Study Programme, it is part of of the SAP Skills for Africa offering.

The project has been launched in partnership with the Maharishi Institute, which facilitates university education for unemployed youth from 11 countries in Africa.

In collaboration with universities across the continent, the SAP Dual Study programme allows high-calibre university students to obtain SAP functional or technical certification during their final two years of studying towards a Bachelor's Degree.

This allows them to leave university with both academic and industry-relevant qualifications.

Having graduated, support is also provided to students to find attachments in the SAP ecosystem.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201509290707.html

Manpower South Africa announces new partnership

August 27, 2014
The Skills Portal

Workforce solutions provider Manpower South Africa is proud to announce it has welcomed a new broad-based BEE partner on board. 

“In April of this year we began engaging with a non-profit organisation and trust, namely the Imvula Education Empowerment Fund,” explains Manpower South Africa Managing Director, Lyndy van den Barselaar. “I am both proud and excited to announce that the Imvula Empowerment Fund is now Manpower South Africa’s new BEE partner, as of July 27 2014.”

The trust oversees a group of organisations – namely the Maharishi Institute, The Impact Sourcing Academy and Invincible Outsourcing – which have all been established with the aim of assisting black students from disadvantaged backgrounds in obtaining a qualification and work experience, particularly in the call centre sector. 

Van den Barselaar explains that two individuals who have been successfully involved in this field for many years head the trust – CEO Dr Taddy Blecher and Chairman Dr Richard Peycke, and that both are truly driven to succeed in their cause, with a target to educate and place into employment 100,000 future leaders for South Africa.

When asked what the partnership means for Manpower South Africa and the Imvula Education Empowerment Fund, van den Barselaar explains, “The partnership means that the 25% of Manpower’s profits to which Imvula Empowerment Education Fund is entitled as a result of their shareholding in the company, will vest in these students from previously disadvantaged backgrounds, to support their education and placement into employment, which is in line with Manpower’s core business and philosophy.”

“Essentially, the more profit created by Manpower, the more funds will be contributed to the education and economic upliftment of South African youth. We have been given a spectacular opportunity that allows us to invest in the future of the country’s youth and this is what BEE should be about – enriching the lives of others and giving them the opportunity to obtain to become economically self sufficient, through education and employment”.

The partnership has also meant that Manpower South Africa has been upgraded to a Level 2 BEE Contributor, from its previous Level 4.

“I am so proud to be associated with something so meaningful. Having the chance to directly impact the lives of so many individuals is truly amazing,” concludes van den Barselaar.