A lack of regulation has allowed some training colleges to charge high fees for worthless qualifications, writes Jack Rampou
LOOPHOLES in the training industry allow private colleges to charge high fees for courses that are not recognised as qualifications by most employers or the National Training Board.
In the past, there were tax incentives for private training institutions to register with the board, which is supposed to regulate and control the industry. But since the Department of Finance phased out tax rebates in 1990, new unregistered colleges have sprung up and many established colleges have deregistered, turning the board into a lame duck.
“Many of the colleges have chosen to operate outside the board’s parameters. There are (at the moment) no requirements for colleges to register,” says Fanie Le Roux, training adviser for the Department of Labour.
This scenario has encouraged deregistration and allowed a slide in standards and ethics in the industry.
The Consumer Council has had a number of complaints about colleges, but can only “act accordingly as alerted by the public out there”, says Laxon Mathole, the complaints adviser.
Eric Mathabathe, the senior adviser at the council, feels that parents from the townships are the ones taken for a ride. “It is very sad to see parents who are so concerned about the future of their children being sold certificates whose worth is questionable,” he says.
According to Mathabathe, the council has no power to close down suspect colleges, but can only advise the college concerned “to deliver what the consumer was
The Department of Labour, he says, has the power to close them down, not the Consumer Council.
However, Isabel Byleveld, the chief director of manpower training, the directorate that oversees the board, says they only have jurisdiction over the standards of training centres that are registered with the department. “All the other centres are free. There is nothing in our legislation that can enforce strict laws to clamp down on the fly-by-night colleges,” she
At the moment the department has only registered 1 400 private colleges, offering about 36 000 registered courses.
And “the registration of colleges does not guarantee a control on their courses”, she says.
She describes the picture as very grim and blames the delay on the slow deliberations of the Department of Labour. “We do not even have the needed statistics of colleges out there. Most colleges are still not registered and that is a great concern for us,” she
The department and the training board are still busy with the process of transformation begun in 1993, when the then-minister of manpower, Leon Wessels, commissioned the board to establish a task team to investigate the training industry and come up with a national training strategy.
People drawn from employer interest groups, trade unions and providers of education and training were appointed to serve and the group is currently engaged in a critical evaluation of existing training strategies, but as yet, no end is in sight.
Meanwhile, unemployed people desperate for skills queue at the Department of Labour’s Rissik Street office in Johannesburg, which offers some vocational training.
“Every day I encounter at least 500 inquiries to our office,” says Le Roux, adding that the department is overwhelmed by the number of people desperate for
Many colleges are taking advantage of these people. “They have noted that there are no legal obligations that bind them, hence there is so much corruption,” says Jean Solomon of the Association of Private Colleges of Southern Africa (APCSA). The association represents about 50 colleges countrywide. Solomon says they are concerned with ethics in the training industry and hope to bring legitimate colleges together in the “eyes of the public”.
Private companies are aware of the problems in the industry and they have taken steps to protect their staff against uncredited institutions. Many companies either do the training themselves or send them to recognised institutions.
It is likely that many colleges will be put out of business as soon as a new training Bill is passed, but, says Le Roux, “at this point our hands are tied while the transitional process is in place”.