Pretoria - Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande has urged potential students to contact the department's call centre to verify the existence of private educational institutions before enrolling.
The minister said there were bogus institutions which were not registered with the Department of Education and were therefore not legitimate.
Some institutions also offered certain subjects in order to get students to register but ended up teaching other subjects. This was in a bid to get more money from students.
He said potential students should call 0800 872222 to check with the department if the institution was in fact registered with the department and what subjects they were registered to offer.
The minister was speaking at the launch of the Green Paper for Post-School Education and Training, which is aimed at aligning the post-school education and training system with South Africa's overall development agenda.
Earlier this week, Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa said police would clamp down on bogus institutions.
Operations will be carried out across the country targeting unregistered schools, colleges and universities and the special investigative team, which probes such institutions, is to be beefed up.
