The PM of Tanzania, Mr Kassim Majalira, has ordered his Ministry for Education, Science, Technology and Vocational Training to review all overseas education agents in Tanzania to verify their integrity.
Speaking in Beijing, the PM said that there is rising public concern in Tanzania about the activities of education agents in the country, because some are charging students and their families huge fees well beyond the value of the service being provided.
Though these agencies help fellow Tanzanians access education opportunities abroad, they should be followed up to establish those that are out to con people.
The PM’s statement was also a response to concerns raised by Mr Denis Mukama, the president of the association of Tanzanian student studying in China, who said:
We request the government to conduct investigations into educational agencies that link students in Tanzania with higher learning institutions abroad as some of them are charging high fees for sub-standard services.
Double dipping?
Although not called out in the statements above, the concerns do seem to link to the issue of double dipping by education agents – i.e where an agent charges a student or their family for advice and also takes a commission from the institution where the student is ultimately placed.
Double dipping is not good practice, and educational institutions should be alert to the risk of double dipping by their agents.
Guarding against double dipping can be done simply by ruling it out in the formal agency agreement, and checking in regularly with students who were placed by an agent to ensure that they were not required to pay a fee to the agent.
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