A group of matriculants across the country are reeling in shock after discovering their online education provider did not register them for the matric exam, leaving them out of pocket and unable to write the exams.
The provider, Keystone Education, insists it is not a verified body by the Department of Education and that it was the responsibility of parents to ensure registration. But, more than 50 parents are fuming, saying they were lied to, with some already having laid criminal charges against the company and its director, Stephen Russell.
"My child worked hard all year. We paid over R24,000 which included R2,100 for exam registration only to find out on the day of the exams that my child was not registered. We were told by Keystone they would take care of everything including registration for the matric exams only to find we were all lied to. Our kids dreams have been stripped, they are are gutted," Durban parent Natalie Daniel told IOL. Her daughter, Bianca was one of many matriculants who spent the past year studying matric online with Keystone Education.
"I'm absolutely shocked and emotionally affected by all this. I can't sleep at night. I had hopes of studying stomatology and feel my dreams were crushed after working so hard all year, not to mention the financial stress of it all on my parents who paid so much. I’m just not coping with what’s happened," Durban-based matriculant Bianca explained.
Approached for a response, Keystone Education director Stephen Russell first said he was busy and could not talk. Pressed for a response, he denied ever claiming his company was verified with the Department of Education.
"We are just a curriculum tutor. We assist learners online but we never claimed to be registered. I always told parents they need to do the exam registration themselves," he told IOL.
Asked why some WhatsApp messages from him to parents claim he would sort out the exam registration, he replied: "I said I would help facilitate, but I never promised I will do it." He said he was willing to refund affected parents, but could not say if he had ever issued any refunds.
In a WhatsApp group of affected parents, with exclusive access given to IOL, parents all voiced similar concerns and experiences. All were promised Keystone would take care of the exam registration only to discover this was never done. They are now preparing a collective criminal case against Keystone and want the Department of Education to intervene. Many have slammed the Department for ignoring their cries for help.
Another parent, Ashleigh De Villiers, claimed her daughter wrote the matric exam online via Keystone Education, and this set off alarm bells.
"In 2022 my step-daughter wrote exams online which we thought was strange as matric exams are never written online. But we were assured by Keystone that it's all normal. We assumed they knew what they were doing as they seemed so professional. However we never received any Umalusi matric certificate of her results and after doing our research discovered to our horror that Keystone was not registered with the Department. But the question is why is this company still allowed to operate? Why is the Department not shutting it down?" De Villiers told IOL.
All the affected learners will now have to rewrite their matric exams in June next year, provided they are allowed to do so by the Department.
Approached for comment, KZN Department of Education spokesperson Muzi Mahlambi said: "We always caution parents and learners about these online education institutions to say that they must always verify with the department if indeed the school is registered and recognised. This could be one of those fly by night institutions."
IOL