Uncategorized

Matrics, do not be misled by ‘fly-by-night’ colleges, warns Blade Nzimande

Minister of higher education, science and technology Dr Blade Nzimande has warned students and parents against falling victim to illegal colleges.Minister of higher education, science and technology Dr Blade Nzimande has warned students and parents against falling victim to illegal colleges.
Image: Sunday Times/Esa Alexander
With the 2019 matric results released, minister of higher education, science and technology Dr Blade Nzimande has warned students and parents against falling victim to illegal or “fly-by-night” colleges.

At least 409,906 pupils passed matric in the NSC (National Senior Certificate) curriculum.

In the IEB (Independent Examinations Board) curriculum, 12,595 students sat for the examination and more than 12,000 passed, the majority with bachelor passes.

Nzimande said bogus colleges were not registered as institutions of learning with the correct bodies, such as sector education and training authorities (Setas) and the department of higher education & training.

“These institutions lure and mislead future students into believing that these colleges offer qualifications that are recognised by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA).qualifications which are not recognised for employment purposes or for further studying,” said Nzimande.

The minister said past operations to get rid of bogus colleges had been successful, but somehow they still mushroomed and many students continued to register, obtaining fake qualifications.

“The number of colleges that are operating illegally has decreased tremendously over the years. The decrease can be attributed to our monitoring awareness campaigns and our collaboration with print and electronic media,” said Nzimande.

He said he was working closely with law-enforcement agencies to close down bogus colleges.

Prospective students wanting to enrol at private colleges have been urged to check the registration statuses thereof with the department through its toll-free number, 0800 872 222.

The department gave the following tips on how to identify “fly-by-night” colleges:

• Before enrolling with a private higher education institution, ask for evidence that the institution and its programmes are registered. This evidence is the certificate of registration and the registration number issued by the department.

• Before enrolling, make sure the institution offers learning programmes and qualifications at the level at which you want to qualify.

• Claims by an institution that it is offering internationally recognised higher education programmes, while not registered to operate in SA, are misleading. Get the right information from the department.

Uncategorized

Prisoners excel in 2019 matric exams, scoring 82.6% pass rate

The pass rate for prisoners who wrote their 2019 matric exams behind bars was 82.6%.The department of correctional services on Thursday announced that 82.6% of inmates who wrote their 2019 matric exams passed.

Speaking in Kimberley at the Tswelopele Correctional Centre on Thursday, minister of justice and correctional services Ronald Lamola announced that 161 fulltime inmates had written the examinations.“It gives me great pleasure to announce that the grade 12 class of 2019 achieved a 82.6% pass rate.” He said 133 offender learners passed and 65 achieved bachelor passes.

This was an improvement from the 77.3% pass rate prisoners achieved the year before.

The department had 16 fulltime correctional centre schools and two public-private partnership centres.

Six of those schools recorded a 100% pass rate in the 2019 exams.

Uncategorized

Suspect shows police where dead Grassy Park girl, 12, was buried

A suspect has been arrested in connection with the death of a 12-year-old Cape Town girl.A police investigation into the disappearance of a 12-year-old girl who was reported missing in Cape Town has led to the arrest of a 48-year-old suspect and the discovery of a body in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Michaela Williams was last seen at her Grassy Park home on Tuesday afternoon, according to Col Andrè Traut. Her mother contacted police in the early hours of Wednesday.

Traut said Michaela was last seen in the company of a man who lived in the same street.

On Thursday, Brig Novela Potelwa said: “Vital information was followed as part of the investigation and the suspect interviewed. The interview led to him pointing out where the body was. The suspect has been charged with murder.”

Michaela’s remains were found in Philippi.

A postmortem will be conducted to determine how she died.

The suspect is expected to appear in the Wynberg magistrate’s court on Friday.

Uncategorized

‘Significant setback’ as Cape Town clinic closed after theft of eight new computers

The theft of eight new computers at Kuyasa clinic in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, forced its closure on January 9 2020.

The theft of eight new computers at Kuyasa clinic in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, forced its closure on January 9 2020. 
Image: City of Cape Town

A Cape Town clinic which treats 400 patients daily has been closed after the theft of eight computers.

Burglars broke into Kuyasa Community Day Centre in Khayelitsha early on Wednesday, said Cape Town mayoral committee member for community services and health Zahid Badroodien.

“Eight computers which were delivered to the clinic in early December were stolen, and the network and uninterrupted power supply cabinet was broken,” he said.

Badroodien said the clinic had 5,000 patients on antiretrovirals and its closure was a “significant setback” for health services in the area.

“Clients come from Kuyasa, but also surrounding areas like Monwabisi Park, Enkanini, Ezwelitsha and Harare, a collective population of nearly 150,000 people,” he said.

“These are mostly informal and impoverished areas, with a high unemployment rate and a very high burden of disease, where people depend on the public health services provided at Kuyasa CDC.”

Badroodien said the clinic would be closed while police investigated the burglary and the building was made secure.

Even when it reopened, “for as long as the IT equipment is not replaced, the flow of patients will be extremely slow due to difficulty in locating the patient folders and no access to lab results and labelling for the medications issued”.

Badroodien appealed for information from members of the public to help police find the culprits.

Uncategorized

Top prisoner achieved four distinctions in matric exams

The top three performing prisoners were honoured at an event in Kimberley on Thursday.

The prisoner who achieved the highest marks after writing his 2019 final matric exams obtained four distinctions, the department of justice and correctional services said on Thursday.

His name is Sandile Stangoni and is serving time at a prison in Durban. He studied and wrote his exams through the Usethubeni Youth Centre.

His average was 76.5%, with distinctions in English, maths literacy, life orientation and tourism,” said minister of justice and corrections Ronald Lamola on Thursday.

Lamola was announcing how the prisoners who had written their exams fared, at an event held at the Tswelopele Correctional Centre in Kimberley.

“The second-best offender learner is Mandla Malwande from Cradock Prison School in the Eastern Cape region, with an average of 76.4%. He registered three distinctions, in isiXhosa, life orientation and business studies,” Lamola said.

Third was Thamie Ganto, also from Cradock, with distinctions in isiXhosa and history.Top performing inmate Sandile Stangoni, centre, with justice and corrections minister Ronald Lamola, left, and MEC for education in the Northern Cape, Mac Jack.

The department had announced that 82.6% of inmates who wrote the 2019 matric exams passed. This was an improvement on the 77.3% pass rate prisoners achieved the year before.

The top three performing prisoners were honoured at an event in Kimberley on Thursday. 
Image: Supplied / DCS

While the department had expected 212 inmates to write the exams, the DCS said that in the end 161 full-time candidates sat. One hundred and thirty-three offender learners had passed, while 65 had achieved bachelor passes, 39 had achieved diploma passes and 28 higher certificate passes.

Lamola said it had been smooth sailing for schooling inmates last year.

“We had a relatively stable 2019 academic year, with fewer disruptions of teaching and learning as a consequence of co-operation and understanding within our correctional facilities on the importance of education by the offender population. For that we are all grateful,” he said.

“Once again, we have delivered incident-free 2019 matric examinations with no systematic irregularities that undermined the integrity and credibility of the exam processes. Today’s announcement, yet again, confirms our commitment to advance the values of education,” Lamola added.

Asked how many of the jailed matriculants were female, the DCS said none.

“None of the females were studying as full-time students,” the department said.