Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande has announced in the Government Gazette the deregistration of Damelin, CityVarsity, Lyceum and Icesa for failing to submit their legally required 2020 and 2021 annual financial certificates and annual reports.
Educor — the owner of Damelin, CityVarsity, Intec and Lyceum College — has been lambasted by Nzimande over its failure to submit audited financial statements despite numerous extensions, according to Daily Maverick.
Educor has until October to appeal its de-registration.
Nzimande has also accused Educor of unethical conduct, dysfunctional practices, bribery and other corruption.
Educor allegedly hasn’t paid staff salaries or resolved numerous student complaints, and gave students marks based on scripts that were never marked, or exams that were never written.
In addition, the Higher Education Quality Committee has withdrawn the accreditation of some programmes for CityVarsity, Damelin and Lyceum.
Educor also misrepresented student numbers, claiming to have 50 000 students on its books, but the real figures are reportedly about a quarter of that number.
Any institution that has been notified that its registration has been cancelled, must:
- Inform the students within 14 days;
- Provide each student with a copy of their academic transcript;
- Reimburse or compensate any enrolled student who has a legal claim on the institution;
- Make adequate arrangements for students to complete their programmes at a comparable institution;
- Cease operating before or at the end of the academic year;
- Ensure that no new students are enrolled after the date specified by the registrar.
ADvTECH’s recently retired CEO, Roy Douglas, said on 702 that the private education group empathised with both students and staff at the affected institutions.
Douglas told Daily Maverick on Tuesday that the Independent Institute of Education (IIE – the higher education division of ADvTECH) was ready to assist the students.