iCollege students demand answers about their ‘jobs’

Failure to read a scholarship contract before signing it, saw students of iCollege in East London fuming when they realised they were signed up as employees of SA companies.

About 60 students recently stormed the college’s branch in Malcomess Park in Southernwood, East London demanding answers after they found out they were employed and earning “R42,000 per annum”.

According to information received from the department of labour, one student was registered as an employee at an automotive company in Polokwane while another worked for a mine in Mpumalanga.

Provincial labour spokesperson Ziphozihle Josefu said the matter has been referred to his department’s risk, anti-fraud and integrity unit for further investigation.

However, the college – which has 16 branches around the country offering free education for 12 months to the value of R42,000 – said registering students as employees was part of its programme.

According to marketing manager Lizel Booysen, all students were given jobs by employers sourced or approached by the college as full-time skills and training employees to undergo training at iCollege for a period of 12 months.

“The remuneration earned by the employee is enough to cover the tuition funds of the students,” she said.

According to Booysen, the funding was provided by employers approached and sourced by iCollege.

“Since students are employed during this period, they cannot be employed by any other company, nor can they claim UIF during this period. This is made very clear when a student is recruited and [the message is] reinforced during induction.

“Every student who is part of the iCollege programme is made aware of the process, has signed the employment contract and declarations that they understand the content of all the agreements they have signed,” said Booysen.

However, the students insisted they were not aware of what they were signing. Some admitted they did not read the contract, saying they thought the document was part of the application form.

The students, who have been boycotting classes for the past two weeks, say they feel tricked.

Some went to the department of labour to verify this.

One student, who is enrolled for a business administration certificate, was shocked to learn she had been employed at an automotive company in Polokwane since 2017.

According to the student, she registered at the college in 2017, but did not carry through with the programme and enrolled again in 2018.

“Maybe they used my personal details from when I registered in 2017 to register me as an employee,” she said.

A former student, Vuyolwethu Xalangile, who currently sits at home unemployed, is registered as an employee at a mining company in Mpumalanga.

Xalangile said she was with the college in 2018 as a business management student and had yet to get her certificate.

“I can’t even look for a job because, according to records at labour, I am employed.”

Booysen said it was not the college’s responsibility “if they [students] are unhappy”.

“They should then rather leave the programme and make space for someone else who wants to grab the opportunity to make a difference in their own life,” she said.