Frustration mounts as higher education websites remain offline for days

Students and professionals in the higher education sector lambasted the government for failing to maintain its websites, which are vital for providing information.

Yesterday, the people who spoke to The Citizen confirmed that the department of higher education and training’s website has not been working for days.

Department’s website error

Paris Mokoena, a leader of the students at the Ehlanzeni TVET College, said the dysfunctional websites belonging to the education authorities have been affecting students for a long time.

Mokoena was reacting to the fact that the department’s website, when clicked, showed an error message stating access was denied.

“As students, we have been complaining about the department’s dysfunctional online services and nothing has been done to resolve the issues. Our college has two websites; the one does not operate at all, while the other one always has glitches,” said Mokoena.

‘No space to have websites that are not working’

“The department’s website and that of our college are important because, among other things, students use them to check the progress of their registrations and other related issues,” said Mokoena, who is also a regional leader of the DA Students’ Organisation.

“There was a time in which students thought that they were registered according to the website, but when they arrived at the campus they were told that they were not accepted.

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“In today’s digital world, there is no space to have websites that are not working properly. As students, we were supposed to do everything online, but many do tasks manually after realising that government does not care about the online glitches on their online platforms,” Mokoena said.

Department ‘not aware’

A department employee, who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to talk to the media, said the system was functioning well and he was not aware it was not working.

He said many employees were not aware of the alleged technical online glitches.

“This time around I was not aware of the website failure, but what I know is that many people have been complaining about the problems they come across when using our online services.”

Both websites inaccessible

The department has two sites – www.dhet.gov.za and www.dhe.gov.za – but both were not accessible. The websites serve as a central hub for information about post-school education, training, and skills development in the country.

It also provides details on policies, initiatives, and resources related to universities, TVET colleges and Sector Education and Training Authorities.

The department did not respond to the questions sent to them.

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