Instead of railing at the private sector, politicians would do better by taking some pointers. Like when idiotic decisions cause obvious destruction – as South Africa’s dumb Visa regulations are doing to a previously healthy English language school sector. On many criteria the country ranks highly, and  has been able to compete effectively for international students who would otherwise study in Europe and the Far East. But new Visa rules have been like Koeberg’s infamous bolt in the nuclear reactor – a blunder that’s smashing a fast growing industry before it had time to take hold. International student numbers are down more than a third since new Visa regulations were introduced. If the chief executive of an accountable institution saw that on their dashboard, they’d reverse the decision super-fast. But not for the first time in the Zuma Administration, the unintended consequences of another own goal will be argued away or simply ignored. Surely the country deserves better? – Alec Hogg  Â
By Adiel Ismail
Cape Town – South Africa’s lucrative English language school industry is starting to crumble with at least two schools shutting down and fears of several others to follow over the country’s recently implemented visa regulations.
Over the last two years, English language schools have been bearing the brunt of South Africa’s visa requirements due to a gap in the system and the lack of coordination between the departments of Home Affairs and Higher Education.
International students studying English in South Africa declined by 37% from 2014 to 2015, according to Education SA (EduSA), a national association of English language centres with 23 member schools.
“Two of our members recently closed down and schools are really starting to struggle after diminished numbers for the past two years,” EduSA vice-chair Torrique Borges told Fin24.
The impact of this fall in student numbers stretches far beyond the schools itself and ultimately means less spending by foreigners.
“Besides school closures, many schools have had to downsize both in staffing, premises and general business operations, so school closures are not the only problem as there have already been job losses and losses in income across our value chain of providers and suppliers,” explained Borges.
Read also:Â Toxic visa rules could sink SA language schools within months
Students’ visas were denied because under the new regulations, accreditation held by EFL schools were insufficient to obtain study visas.
A process was started to register schools with the Department of Higher Education as a Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college but it wasn’t feasible for various reasons, said Borges.
Some of these included that some schools are small with few students, to no set syllabus being used as lessons are student-focused and the period of study time differing depending on the needs of the students.
“We fully appreciate national interest in immigration policy as well as the need for accreditation within the educational landscape but at the same time I feel that we are an industry of huge potential where South Africa has a number of unique advantages.”
Read also: Sunil Shah: Open letter to Govt – don’t destroy English schools
EduSA has been dealing directly with the departments of Home Affairs and Higher Education and although there were talks of finding an interim solution, the problem persists.
In the meanwhile, the laws are devastating the industry.
“It seems reasonable to expect us to be able to work with government to solve the crisis timeously before further irreparable damage is done to our industry,” said Johannes Kraus, EduSA chairperson.
He said winter is traditionally our low season where many schools depend on their long term students to get through the quiet periods of business.
“As long term students cannot get study visas, the winters have been extremely tough and there are serious concerns about further school closures before the start of summer later this year,” warned Kraus.
Fin24
Source:Â http://www.fin24.com/Economy/visa-rules-force-sa-language-schools-to-shut-down-20160630
