How to check if a college is registered with Department of Education
The quality of education that institutions offer in South Africa is paramount. To ensure that the standards of education are as stipulated, there are bodies that accredit institutions. The process of accreditation aims at ensuring that the institutions offer services that can be recognized by employers, companies, and organizations. It is therefore vital for a student to ensure that the institution he or she is in is accredited. This pops the question of how to check if a college is registered with the Department of Education.
Source: UGC
For the country to have graduates that are competent and fit for the job market, a key focus has been put on the quality of education that colleges offer. Therefore, the government has entrusted certain bodies with the mandate of checking the quality of education in these institutions. Students are also advised to ensure that they go through institutions that are accredited. Would you like to know how to check if a college is registered with the Department of Education?
Registered colleges with the Department of Education
With strict rules, most people would like to know, how do you determine if a college is accredited? Before an institution is accredited, it is mandatory that it goes through the registration process. The Department of Education has the mandate of registering colleges. All the accredited institutions are, therefore, registered colleges with the Department of Education. The list of registered colleges with the Department of Education is available online.
Accredited colleges in South Africa
For an institution to be accredited, there are standards and qualifications that are expected to be met. The first qualification is that the college should register with the Department of Education. Students are advised to consider checking whether the institution that they wish to join is registered and accredited.
If you are cautious enough and wish to check whether or not your college is accredited, you can do so comfortably. The first step is by contacting the Department of Education. The website contains a list of all the registered colleges. For accreditation, you can consult Umalusi. Umalusi contains a list of all the accredited private colleges in South Africa. You can request this list through:
- Telephone: +27 (012) 349 1510
- Fax: +27 (012) 349 1511 (by unit)
- Email: info@umalusi.org.za
The system that sets standards for college accreditation is called the South African National Accreditation System (SANAS). This system gauges the quality of education that colleges offer by gauging:
- The quality of the institution and services that the college offers
- The academic qualifications of the lectures
- The quality of the learning materials like textbooks
- The quality of the facilities in the colleges like the laboratories and the libraries
Source: UGC
After ascertaining that the college is fit to offer education, there is a need for accreditation of the individual courses that the college offers. There are bodies that work under the umbrella ship of SETA (Sector Educational and Training Authority). Each one of these bodies has its area of specialization that it governs. Some of these bodies include:
- AGRISETA
- BANKSETA
- CATHSSETA
- CETA
These are just some of the bodies that work under SETA to maintain the quality of education that these institutions offer.
Umalusi accreditation
Umalusi is a body that is in charge of accrediting the following types of institutions;
- Private Adult Education and Training providers
- Private assessment bodies that assess the qualifications Umalusi certifies
- Independent schools
- Private Further Education and Training Colleges (FET Colleges)
In as much as private colleges may seem to have their system of governance, the quality of education that they offer still has to be monitored. That is the reason why Umalusi came into existence.
During the process of accreditation, Umalusi exercises its power under the guidance of set-aside policy documents. These policy documents have the method through which accreditation should be done for an individual institution. The mandate that Umalusi has is tied down to institutions that are not public. Its power on public institutions is only limited to monitoring and giving reports on how effective the curricula are. It monitors the curricula for FET colleges, public schools, and Adult Learning Centres.
For accreditation of institutions, private institutions to be precise, Umalusi ensures that these institutions comply with the registration requirements. The registration process authorizes the private providers to offer their services by issuing them with a license. Accreditation is, however, different from registration. Accreditation assesses the quality of service that the private provider gives.
How to check if a college is registered with Umalusi
Source: UGC
The private providers of education are responsible for applying for accreditation. If one wishes to verify whether the institution is accredited with Umalusi, they can start with an "Expression of Intent." After the "Expression of Intent," they can proceed to fill it in, then and submitting it online.
As soon as the "Expression of Intent" has gone through screening and the results show that the institution meets the terms of the quality assurance, the applicant will receive the results of the screening.
For a student who wishes to check whether his college is accredited, he or she can do so by checking the list that Umalusi has compiled and posted on its website. The list contains a list of all the colleges that meet the requirements of Umalusi.
For the sake of the quality of education, the government has come up with strict rules. These rules govern the emerging of new colleges in the company. They also aim at ensuring that the quality of education is not compromised. The details on how to check if a college is registered with the Department of Education are vital. These details should be taken into consideration before a student decides to join a particular college.
Source: Briefly News
