In a speech on 19 July 2022, the Prime Minister of Tanzania, Kassim Majaliwa, instructed the country’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology to manage and closely monitor the conduct of education agencies offering study abroad services to students in order to avoid fraud by fake agents.
We are saying this because the agencies that help us find foreign colleges are also doing business. One may be just be taking money and not looking at the quality of the college and the courses he is going to send our students to…
Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, 19 July 2022
The Prime Minister encouraged Tanzanian students to work with the Tanzanian Commission for Universities to satisfy themselves of the legitimacy and professionalism of any education agency they are considering working with.
Mr Majaliwa’s comments follow a crackdown on dodgy education agents in 2018, and his direction at that time to the Ministry for Education, Science, Technology and Vocational Training to review all overseas education agents in Tanzania to verify their integrity. The main issues were agents sending students to unrecognised colleges abroad to obtain qualifications that were not recognised in Tanzania. The Prime Minister said that he was satisfied with the progress made in the following years, noting that student complaints about education agents have decreased significantly.
Emerging market risks
Emerging markets in Africa and elsewhere around the globe offer huge opportunities for institutions seeking to grow and diversify their international student body. Penetrating new offshore student recruitment markets is challenging. Establishing an education agent network offers a way to establish an international student recruitment channel in your target markets.
With that opportunity comes risk. Unprofessional or dishonest education agents can cause huge and long lasting damage to the lives of students, and the reputation of your institution. Active risk management through due diligence is critical.
Education Agent due diligence – implement best practice
AgentBee’s education agent due diligence solution supports educational institutions to implement best practice education agent due diligence processes.
Educational institutions can use it to:
- do due diligence on education agents – check new agents before agreeing to work with them, and run regular checks on current agents.
- protect your brand – detect cases of unauthorised agents using your institution’s name, logo or other IP without permission.
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Source: The Citizen, 20 July 2022