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Nqobile Tshili and Trish Mukwazo

GOVERNMENT has with immediate effect deregistered 46 vocational training colleges across the country, eight of them from Bulawayo and identified 330 others operating illegally following a crackdown on private and independent training institutions.
In Bulawayo, colleges which were deregistered for failing to meet quality standards in line with the provisions of the Manpower Planning and Development Act, include Foundation College, Zimbabwe Distance Education College (ZDECO), ZAOGA Nketa 7, Academy of Learning, Zimbabwe Institute of Commercial Studies, GTG Information Technology Centre, Hillview International College and Mosmarch International College.
The Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development, which carried out the inspection exercise, also established that 39 colleges are operating in Bulawayo, among them 10 Bulawayo City Council (BCC)-run youth training centres
The Ministry deregistered the colleges after conducting a Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) Quality Assurance Standards Compliance Inspectorate.
The exercise is in line with the ministry’s mandate to inspect private and independent education and training institutions to ensure that they comply with the Manpower Planning Development Act (Chapter 28: 02) subsection 1 and Statutory Instruments 333 of 1996 and 26 of 2001, on critical issues of registration that guarantee improved access to quality and equitable inclusive education and training.
Some of the colleges that have deregistered in Bulawayo include Zimbabwe Institute for Commercial Studies, Zimbabwe Distance Education College (ZDECO) and Academy of Learning.
Some of the BCC institutions operating illegally include the Tshaka Council Vocational Training Centre (VTC), Makokoba VTC, Mpopoma VTC, Njube Council VTC and Pumula VTC among others.
Other notable colleges operating illegally in the city include the Zimbabwe Academy of Music, City College of Computers, Mars Training Centre, and Nirvana Zen Academy.