Chronicle Editor
Nqobile Tshili and Ashley Phiri, Chronicle Writers
SOME private colleges and vocational training colleges in Bulawayo, which were recently deregistered by the Government for operating illegally, have insisted that their operations are above board.
The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development deregistered 46 vocational training institutions across Zimbabwe, eight of which are in Bulawayo, as part of a crackdown on institutions that fail to meet the required quality standards.
The colleges affected in Bulawayo include Foundation College, Zimbabwe Distance Education College (Zdeco), Zaoga Nketa 7, Hillview International College, Academy of Learning, Zimbabwe Institute of Commercial Studies, GTG Information Technology Centre and Mosmarch International College.
Additionally, the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development identified 330 other colleges operating illegally nationwide. Of these, 39 are in Bulawayo, including 10 Bulawayo City Council-run youth training centres such as Tshaka Council Vocational Training Centre and Mpopoma VTC.
A survey conducted yesterday at some of the deregistered centres revealed that it was business as usual with operators claiming they were not aware of the Goverment position. At St Jones College, which offers secondary education and vocational skills like catering, till operation and hair dressing, officials said as far as they were concerned their operations were above board. The situation was the same at council vocational training centres.
Bulawayo City Council’s senior corporate communications manager, Mrs Nesisa Mpofu, defended the city’s vocational centres, stating that they provide services as a community and social initiative targeting vulnerable groups, such as school dropouts.
She argued that these centres are not subject to the Manpower Development Act Chapter 28:2, which governs the registration of higher education institutions.
“The City of Bulawayo refers to the above-mentioned articles and would like to highlight that it provides vocational training as a community/social service, targeting the vulnerable members of the community such as school dropouts.
“The city provides these services in line with Part 3b of the Manpower Development Act Chapter 28:2, which states that registration does not apply to any institution that provides education or training that is solely religious, social or recreational,” she said.
“The city’s vocational training centres charge low fees but provide quality education and provide life skills to vulnerable groups. The city’s vocational training students are also trade tested by the Department of Manpower Development to ensure quality control.”
Mrs Mpofu further stated that no inspections or notifications regarding the closures had been made to the council-run centres, contradicting the Government’s assertion that the colleges were visited before being deregistered.
“The Act requires that if there is any cancellation, the organisation will be informed in writing, where they will also pinpoint the failures that require to be redressed and provide an opportunity to allow the offending issues to be attended to within a given period and to be regularised before issuing any cancellation,” she said.
Foundation College, one of the institutions named in the deregistration list, also disputed the deregistration announcement.
Mr Message Johnson Ncube, the director of Foundation Group of Colleges, said his institution stopped offering technical training courses 15 years ago and was now purely focused on academic programmes.
“I was shocked to the core when I saw our name among those deregistered because we don’t offer any courses that fall under the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education. We informed the ministry 15 years ago when we stopped offering technical training,” said Mr Ncube.
He said their college remains operational as before. Mr Ncube said the ministry should have conducted extensive research before classifying his college under deregistered colleges.
“Our stakeholders should know that Foundation College is continuing as it has been continuing before. It is indeed a nullity that we have been deregistered because we don’t fall under that ministry at all,” he said.
Permanent Secretary for Higher and Tertiary Education, Professor Fanuel Tagwira, clarified that any institution providing training to students who completed primary or secondary education must be registered under the Manpower Development Act.
“If you are doing trade testing with manpower development it means that you have to be registered with our ministry. Those institutions that think that they do not need to be registered are misinterpreting the law,” he said. Prof Tagwira also emphasised that inspections were carried out before deregistration.
“Any institution that offers any training for students who have completed primary and secondary education has to be registered with in terms of the Manpower Development Act,” he said.
“We did not pluck them from the sun, they were visited. So, those who need clarification should visit the ministry’s Quality Assurance Standards Compliance Inspectorate department to understand what they need to do.”
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