Educor’s City Varsity in Cape Town in turmoil with students stranded, ‘heartbroken’ teachers unpaid

15 Oct 2024

Teachers at City Varsity in the Cape Town CBD are battling financial distress amid complaints that they have not been paid for two months by parent company Educor, with students left uncertain about their future.

Educor’s private institution, City Varsity, a school of media and creative arts in Cape Town, has been shuttered for three weeks with teachers unable to conduct contact classes over unpaid wages for August and September.

The troubles on the Cape Town campus in Roeland Street follow the deregistration of City Varsity’s licence and that of three other Educor institutions in March this year after complaints from students and a failure to submit annual financial statements and tax clearance certificates.

Licences were provisionally reinstated in August, subject to the colleges meeting certain obligations.

Daily Maverick received a letter signed off by 26 educators linked to City Varsity in Roland Street in which they demand that Educor pay their salaries on time. They claim they have not received payments for August and September. The ongoing issue of late wages has led to severe financial distress among employees, affecting their ability to support themselves and their families.

“City Varsity staff have not been paid for August and September (just the most recent incident of late payment of salaries dating back years). Despite numerous efforts by staff and unions to get communication on the matter, we have been met with either vague response or utter silence,” say City Varsity staff at the Roeland Street campus.

The letter reads that “staff have been pushed to the brink of financial crisis, mental burnout, and physical collapse. The message this treatment sends to all employees is that you are replaceable and not valued (by Educor) – even when those employees are extremely qualified, experienced, hard working, and loyal to a fault.”

In the letter, the teachers are calling for accountability and transparency between City Varsity and themselves.

“As a staff, all we have ever wanted is to try to save City Varsity — a campus and community we love, and believe in. But if this is not possible, then immediate and transparent communication to that effect must be issued. If City Varsity has no future past 2024, then this must be told to staff and students.”

According to a teacher at City Varsity who requested anonymity, about 150 students have been stuck at home and are worried about their futures at the campus, which first opened its doors in 1996.

Daily Maverick contacted a representative of the teachers this week, who confirmed that they had still not been paid in October.

Teachers struggling

Teachers who spoke to Daily Maverick said that they were struggling to provide for their families.

“I’ve had to take loans, and accept gifts from friends, and the church and the mosque have even come around and dropped some food off at my house. So I’m living on the goodwill of others at the moment. I don’t even have money on my phone any more to phone students or do anything like that.

“It’s heartbreaking to see everything just coming to an end. Educor in my opinion doesn’t understand education in the smallest possible way. They should never have been in a position of running a school if they were not academics and understood how schools work,” said another teacher.

Another said: “I’m just having to go into debt to pay the bills, hoping that the sort of back pay of salary comes in. The financial strain is very intense. The mental pressure is awful.”

Despite not being paid, the staff continued to work remotely and do their jobs because they did not want to let down their students.

Read more: Nzimande lashes Damelin, CityVarsity, Intec, and Lyceum for ‘worst sin’ committed by an education institution.

Students in the dark

Daily Maverick spoke to City Varsity film students who said this had made them worried about their education.

“I feel like even the dream itself is just disappearing. There is so much chaos that has been happening, and everyone is drained,” said a student who wanted to remain anonymous. She added: “There is no clear communication between the higher ups (Educor) and the school itself. That’s why so many people have gone to another school.”

Another second-year student said: “I really don’t think we hold the lecturers at fault for not being present because we know that Educor isn’t paying them. It’s all outside of our control, which is frustrating. If we can't finish our degree there, there’s other institutions, but some of the students don’t have access to funds to study elsewhere.”

During a visit to the City Varsity campus, it was empty with no one on the premises beside the security of the property. The windows and doors were closed.

City Varsity responds

City Varsity Director Melvin Munsami did not respond directly to the question about staff payments, but said: “Due to the prolonged delay in resolving the registration issues, we regrettably confirm that this has placed constraints and pressure on all resources, especially staff to operate efficiently. We empathise with the difficulties this has created for our students and staff.”

There have also been reports suggesting that the City Varsity building has a new landlord, and that that is why the campus was closed. Munsami did not respond specifically, but said: “There is a valid lease in place and the premises will be right-sized in consultation with, and consent from, our landlords. City Varsity will remain operational at our current premises on Roeland Street.”

This is not the first time teachers have called for City Varsity to pay salaries. Early this year, the campus in Braamfontein, Gauteng, closed down due to staff withdrawing their services after the salaries were not paid. The campus remains closed. Last month News24 reported that one of Educor’s institutions, Damelin in East London did not pay staff in July and August 2024.

Daily Maverick spoke to Higher Education and Training spokesperson, Camagwini Mavovana, who responded that the department was “aware of various operational challenges reported at the campuses of Educor’s institutions, including City Varsity”.

“We do understand financial pressures upon Educor since deregistration — and we believe the institution will recover over time.”

They told Educor to provide detailed monthly reports that include financial updates intended to address such matters.

According to the Mavovana, the department was reviewing reports submitted by Educor to verify compliance with requirements.

Educor institutions deregistered

Former minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande, cancelled the registration of f City Varsity (Pty) Ltd, Damelin (Pty) Ltd, Icesa City Campus (Pty) Ltd, and Lyceum College (Pty) Ltd seven months ago after Educor’s failure to submit proof of their financial viability to the department.

During Nzimande’s announcement, he said that there were complaints about the exploitation of poor students, non-payment of staff salaries, and underpayment of staff salaries.

“In addition to failing to submit evidence of their financial viability to the department, the four Educor brands can be deemed as dysfunctional and this is mainly measured against the daily complaints and grievances received from students, most of which remain unresolved,” said Nzimande.

Elaborating later, he said: “Compliance with the regulations that govern private higher education is not optional for any academic institution, and as required… we have a legal obligation to protect the integrity of our country’s higher education system.”

There was also a discrepancy about student enrolment. Educor had claimed to have 50,000 learners in the system, but the department said there were in fact only 13,096.

In August 2024, new Higher Education minister Dr Nobuhle Nkabane provisionally reinstated the private institutions on condition that Educor submit comprehensive monthly reports to the department.

Mavovana told Daily Maverick that “humanitarian considerations guided the minister’s decision to reinstate Educor’s registration provisionally. The interests of tens of thousands of students, their parents and families, weighed heavily on the minister’s conscience as the deregistration of Educor had a direct bearing on their futures.”

After the department reinstated licences, the South African Federation of Trade Unions weighed in, urging the department to ensure the rights of workers were recognised, it was reported by Mail & Guardian.

Educor is a private education provider and manages institutions including Damelin, City Varsity, Icesa City Campus, and Lyceum College and also offers distance learning in Intec College, which was the first of Educor’s brands to be established in the early 1900s, followed by Lyceum College.

Daily Maverick has not received any reports of complaints from staff or students from other Educor colleges. DM

Categories:

Tags:

DM is much better if you are signed in...

Business Maverick

Teachers struggling

Students in the dark

City Varsity responds

Educor institutions deregistered