Why is CTI Education group still operating

I graduated from high school in 2005 and i was fortunate enough to get employed in the service industry in which i have grown to a level of being an influence of positive change.

I later felt that my work was becoming redundant and yet, i thought of pursuing a career in something else where i am able to work 8 to 5, Monday to Friday sort of a job you get the drift! After a few years of postponements i later decided to step down and have a clean start of a career that is demand and has good projections of future growth and demand.

I chose IT because i was honestly used to troubleshoot and fix basic computing issues at work at the time and i thought why not. I was driving from work early January 2015 and heard an advert on radio about the higher learning institute called CTI. The advert made me not to stop thinking about how can i change for the better since i am a person who is inspired to grow as an individual.

I also later recalled that my childhood friend also went to study IT with the same institution back in 2006 and was placed into employment.I walked into the CTI bedfordview campus and the receptionist called a student adviser called Stephan and he explained how the program works, essentially is a self paced self study methodology where should you finish you modules before your contract ends, you will do extra modules at the college's cost.

My wife and i were convinced, I later went back to write and assessment test. Trust me when i say it was welcoming. I wrote my assessment test and i had miraculously managed to my pass, Stephan informed me that i passed and i should pay a registration fee R800 so i can start the following week once internal processes are finalized.Stephan told me and wife that upon completion of the qualification the markets entry level salary according to the current index for the qualification chosen was between R15k to R18k on average a month.

I registered and went head on to tackle the books and exams.I studied an average of 10 and a half hours a day including weekends. I was tough since i at the time completed to a decade earlier. I managed to pass all my modules on my first attempt with an exception of linux server and security plus practical. I was progressing quite good and the reason why i fell behind was because of family issues. I started applying for entry level jobs at the the time i was a quarter way to complete the qualification but i received a lot of rejection replies mind you i am now exhausting my provident fund at the time and needed the money for my school fees and groceries for the house. I was later offered a jobs as a lecture at the institution which i accepted because i was good for reference i thought.

I had fixed term contract for a year and i was working all by my self as network engineering lecture. I later became frustrated due to the way the institution have changed the curriculum because i felt it was redesigned to set back students making the modules a whole lot harder to pass. For instance the examination structure was 75% hand written questions and 25% computer based question in which from the 75% the setup was x2 long question x1 medium question and 1 or 2 short questions. The long question comprised of the 20 marks each and the rest had lower marks, so if you didn't get a long question right then you will never see a pass. The way the questions are formulated were ambiguous and imagine IT modules comprise of at least on average 600 pages per module like A+ 801.

I was not surprised to see students in the networking faculty dropping out without even attaining a modular certificate from the class of 2016, only one student managed to at least move on the 3rd module by the end of his contract and if he wants to continue he needs to pay overruns which are about +- R12k a month for a full time student whilst already one has paid R97K for the qualification.I later discovered during a dry run test in preparation for the Department of Higher Educations visit that the CTI exams are internal exams and not international exams as advertised or even Comptia accredited. I couldn't wake up to a business that is ripping people off their hard earned money for a qualification that recruiters overlook.

I sat at home for a few months applying for jobs left right center and still had no until I emailed the student affairs personal a copy of my cv and she managed to get me an interview where i am currently employed as a helpdesk support technician for a R7k salary a month. During my interview both managers informed me that if i want to progress in the IT field i need to do proper certifications like Comptia A+, MCSA or MCITP certified until that is done i will get a better job in the IT field because recruiters and employers hire people who have accredited certifications like Comptia. I was once soaring high as an eagle and now i am broke with a bad credit, no return of investment for my hard work studying. If only i knew better i would went to IT-Academy or Torgue IT for a fraction of the price and still be way better off than going to CTI. I logged a complain with the Department of Higher Education the qualification framework that CTI is offering and i was told that since i completed my studies, I can now sit in for my Comptia certification and my question was, did i spent all the money and time to prepare myself to write exams worth less R1k per sitting and no one ever rep****.

FYI Stuart is an alias.