Deceived by agents: Why you must think twice on overseas education

Dar es Salaam. Seven years ago, Mr Jackson Mwanjombe, 33, dreamt of pursuing university education abroad. He got the opportunity.

But today, he is haunted by bad memories of what he went through there; what he studied and, why and how he made up his mind to travel abroad for that purpose.

Having completed his Advanced Level Secondary Education in 2012, Mr Mwanjombe could not get sponsorship from the Higher Education Students Loans board (HESLB).He knew getting a scholarship was not easy.

As he contemplated how he could finance his education overseas, a friend connected him to a broker—a well-known individual in Mtwara Region who identified himself as an agent for overseas university scholarships.

The broker was winning trust because he claimed to have studied abroad. He helped Mr Mwanjombe with all it took to go to India for what he said was a fee-free scholarship. He even facilitated Mr Mwanjombe to get travel documents.

Mwanjombe went to a college in India. The ‘broker’ had told him everything had already been set at his college for his smooth studies.

Little did he know that about half of what the broker told him was different from what he met and went through while in India.

“First, when I arrived, I was surprised to be told that I was required to pay Sh1.5 million which is half of the two year fees of about Sh3 million,’’ says Mwanjombe.

“Because I had no option, given that I was already in a foreign country, I had to communicate back home. I told my father the entire situation and he advised me to continue. Since that time I have never met with my “broker,” recalls Mr Mwanjombe.

He says his father struggled and ensured he completed studies. “I regretted Little did I know that I was being deceived. “I trusted the broker because he was known to have studied abroad. But, I came to realize that the broker only wanted to get commission from the college that I was admitted to.”

When Mr Mwanjombe came back from India towards the end of 2014, he was more disappointed that his credentials could not be recognised by Tanzania’s quality assurance system. “I decided to enrol in Arusha technical college and completed in 2018.”

“TCU (Tanzania Commission for Universities) must find a way to help many young people who are deceived they way I was. I have never met this guy (the broker) since then. He might be deceiving others,” he says.

Concerns have been raised about the security of students being recruited to pursue studies in overseas universities in recent years. This has prompted reactions from the academia demanding a formal system to enable proper monitoring of students’ progress while abroad.

The recent increase of enrolment in secondary education in the country has led to the increase in the number of graduates who qualify for admission into universities.

However, the increase doesn’t correlate with a corresponding expansion in the admission capacity of local universities.

These factors have for many years been stimulating unprecedented demand for access to higher education in both local and overseas institutions.

The situation has created an avenue for agencies seeking to facilitate students to access study opportunities abroad, something that is reported to have been putting some students at risk of finding themselves in universities that are not recognized by TCU quality assurance guidelines. But also, the students’ general security as foreigners in the host country is not guaranteed.

According to the Head of Monitoring and Evaluation for the National Council for Technical Education (Nacte) Ms AnastelLa Sigwejo, students who get scholarships from development agencies get the processes controlled by the ministry of education.

“For Nacte, we normally test the equivalence of students from outside the country. This only applies in certificate and diploma causes.

“However, for those students who find themselves agents for scholarships, I’m not very sure if there is a mechanism to monitor them effectively,” she tells The Citizen.

What data show

Available data show that the number of Tanzania students studying in overseas have been increasing tremendously, thus calling for more proper mechanisms to manage them.

The data compiled by Unesco Institute of Statistics (UIS) last year, indicates that a total of 4,111 students from Tanzania were admitted in seven overseas universities between 2017 and 2018.

The UIS data also shows that in a period of five years between 2012 and 2017 the number of overseas enrolment for Tanzanian students rose from 5,359 in 2012 to 6,579 students in 2017, an increase of 23 percent.

In the five years, there were about 36,731 Tanzania students studying abroad, distributed as: 2012 (5,359), 2013 (5,520), 2014 (6,075), 2015 (6,453), 2016 (6,585) and 2017 (6,579).

Growth of recruitment agencies

There have been a steady increase of agents seeking local students looking to study in overseas. The agents are seeing the student market as ripe for the picking.

Dr Thomas Jabil, former University of Nairobi lecturer and who is currently a business consultant in Dar es Salaam believes that most recruiters have no basic training on counselling, have limited or no connections to professional associations that could enhance easy monitoring.

“They set up in prime locations and offer one-stop shopping, advising students on how to get into overseas colleges and offering test preparations, assistance with interviews and writing applications, and even visa procurement.

“It is a business boom which has since awoken a lot of local and overseas recruitment companies and individuals, but the government has to take precaution given the fact that students who studied will be required to come back and contribute to the country’s economic growth,” he added.

He said several years back, “some Tanzanian students found themselves in ‘useless’ institutions abroad, ending up with unrecognised credentials by our Tanzania’s regulator.”

“I don’t mean these countries have no good universities, but some of them especially the private ones in some parts of the world are unqualified. Because they can’t get enough students in their own countries, they opt to use agents to get access to international scholars,” he said.

He speaks of a friend in Mtwara whose child got a fee-free scholarship and enrolled to a university in India in 2013 (he didn’t mention the institution) but after two years, the student returned with certificates which were not recognised in Tanzania.

“There has for many year no mechanism to protect these students. There must be procedures and rule to hold these agents accountable if anything happens to our children/students,” said Dr Jabil.

He argued that most recruiters were often more interested in making money than serving students.

“Most of the counselors in our local secondary school have no idea about overseas studies, so naturally, students want help—and they (and their parents) become easy prey to some of the questionable services,” he said.

Dr Idris Mpalanga from Dar es Salaam University College of Education (Duce) said students seeking to study abroad through means that are not recognised by the government were at risk.

“Our universities are still not enough to accommodate all students for higher education. This means, most students will always find ways to get scholarships and study abroad. This is why the government should be aware to enhance security assurance to students,” he said.

He said he had cases of international students who were misled by agents/brokers and found themselves in miserable situation in the foreign countries.

He said some institutions, particularly those seeking a rapid expansion in foreign enrolments had decided that their interests are best served by contracting with agents who represent them to students in target countries.

Some of those agents are paid commission by overseas institution on the basis of the number of students enrolled.

“This is why the regulator needs to investigate and identify the best recruiters who will genuinely help our students. Otherwise it will be like abandoning our children in the hands of crooked agents,” he said.

Former agent share views

Mr James Kagurwa, who worked in a local students recruiting company (didn’t mention the name) in the last five years before switching to another job, narrate how some agents conduct their services.

“With huge commission they receive from foreign institutions, agents help students to write application, pose as the applicants during online interviews with the universities, and employ other unethical practices which is a risk for the beneficiary (student),” he said.

“Tanzania’s recruiting companies should have the interest of their clients at heart – not compromising the dignity of the students for the commissions. If their work is good and they establish a reputation for quality and trustworthiness, the revenue will follow,” he advised.

He urges the agents strive to find the best possible matches between student’s background, interests, preferences, goals, financial resources and all suitable colleges and universities.”

But Eva Benson, a student studying in UK told The Citizen has a positive story about agents. When she wanted to study abroad, she talked to friends who recommended an agent for her.

She was told that agent was an engineer himself, so he had good knowledge of universities, how they are rated, and everything.

“Many of my friends had hired this agent (a lecturer at UDSM) and gotten into good universities. They said the process was very smooth for them,” she said, adding, “I decided to go for agent and now I enjoy the scholarship. Next year I would have finished my studies and come back to Tanzania,” she said.

She believes some agents were money-oriented and not for the success of students they recruit.

“The agent should be like a parent to a student. Some of our parents are not literate to follow up on their children’s progress. There must be a mechanism to crackdown on dubious agents,” she said.

TCU crafting rules for agents

Reached by The Citizen to explain if it was aware of the situation and what it was doing to protect Tanzanian students, TCU said it was developing guidelines to help the commission in overseeing recruitment of Tanzanian students seeking to study overseas.

The guidelines, according to the regulator, are also meant to facilitate the issuance of a ‘no objection certificate to students going to pursue studies in overseas universities.

“Issuance of such a certificate is meant to enable the commission to ensure the validity of the students’ qualifications for admission into the overseas universities,” said TCU executive secretary, Prof Charles Kihampa.

He said they intended to ensure that the universities and programs the students expect to pursue are valid and relevant and have unquestionable quality standards.

“For the purposes of planning for human resource requirements in the country, there is need to ensure that the national higher education database also captures particulars of students studying in overseas universities,” he said.

“The issuance of the no objection certificate will also help the commission to obtain relevant information for the national higher education databases which the commission is developing,” Prof Kihampa added.

He said the system will enable the agencies recruiting students to work closely with the government in achieving a common goal of enhancing access to university education opportunities to Tanzanian students.

“Although the use of agents in recruiting students wishing to pursue studies overseas provides the needed assistance to students, the practice increases the danger of students falling prey to fraudulent agents or being recruited to unqualified universities of academic programmes,” Prof Kihampa said.

The law on registration of recruiting agents

Under regulation 47 (1) (d) and (f)of the Universities (general) Regulation, G.N 226 of 2013, no person or institution, whether local or foreign, is allowed to recruit students in Tanzania to join foreign university institution without the approval of TCU.

Prof Kihampa admits Tanzania has in recent years experienced surge of overseas students’ recruitment agencies which have not been well regulated.

“However, this sector has been unregulated as there was no documented information on their registration and accreditation, as well as guidelines and criteria for the services they offer,” he said.

Prof Kihampa also reveals that TCU has established guidelines that require every agency intending to recruit students seeking to study overseas to lodge their applications for registration to TCU.

“The aim is to ensure quality of graduate recruited by these agencies and ensuring that the students are admitted in institutions which deliver higher education of high quality,” he said.

He further revealed that currently there are only 3 agencies recognised by the commission, naming them as DARWIN Education Agency Ltd; Global Education Link Ltd; and Yuhoma Educational Ltd.

“Students seeking to study abroad should not be deceived by anyone because now we have a mechanism. The agent must have been registered and they (students) will only be given a go ahead by the commission,” he said.