Several online notables in South Africa have closed due to quality issues and “lack of support. “
One from Umalusi, a national exam quality insurer, which said it had not accredited any online schools in South Africa, also added to the problems of online schools.
According to the Sunday Times, South Africa’s Institute for Comprehensive Assessment (Sacai) failed to enroll online school SEAT Academy in Cape Town for failing to submit the correct assessments, while an online primary school established through St Stithians closed in June due to a lack of support.
Valenture Institute, spouse of the online school with St Stithians, noted that the new type of schools is suffering due to the construction of online schools in the country. At the same time, many parents have to return to traditional school after the Covid-19 pandemic.
In addition, two online schools in KwaZulu-Natal provided matrix students with falsified enrolment letters and distributed replaced questionnaires to 12th graders in their final exams last year, resulting in their closure, the Sunday Times reported.
This led Umalusi to take precautions against “fake” schools springing up and scamming parents with fake grades.
Umalusi said he is running with the South African Police Service (SAPS) to crack down on establishments that identify academics with fake letters bearing the Umalusi logo, which purport to be valid registration letters.
Umalusi said it has accredited online schools in the country.
This is a stir among stakeholders in the area of online school in the country, and several schools had to make statements clarifying the confusion and concerns raised by online grades.
According to online school Brainline, Umalusi’s posts have caused confusion, with the comment that no online school has been accredited, casting doubt on the quality and legitimacy of online qualifications in general.
She explained that she is registered with the IEB, which is registered in Umalusi, which gives credits to her courses. The University of Cape Town online also noted that its Higher National Certificate is accredited through the personal evaluator, SACAI, authorized through Umalusi.
Sacai CEO Keith Maseko said 39 distance education providers registered with them to take the matrix exams. Confidence Dikgole, CEO of the Independent Examinations Board (IEB), said nine online schools and one distance education provider have registered with them.
Umalusi spokesperson Biki Lemota said that Sacai and the IEB are accredited evaluators and that their online evaluators are registered for tests and as examination centers.
Recently, the registration and legitimization of online schools in South Africa has generated controversy due to the emergence of such schools during the Covid-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, without a proper framework to regulate those schools, there has been an accumulation of fraudulent activities, as Umalusi noted.
Despite this, in January 2022, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said her branch was drawing up a new framework to help the rise of online schools in South Africa and added, at the time, that the government had already developed the draft framework for the status quo of personal and public online schools.
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