Vocational education the guide for Africa
By Thandisizwe Mgudlwa
Vocational education and training is clearly the answer for most students who cannot enter the university system.
That is why experts have in the past urged students to consider private colleges and further education and training (FET) institutions as a viable option for gaining a tertiary education.
Among them are quality institutions offering courses that address the economic needs of the country. Many colleges have a higher ratio of graduates placed directly into related employment.
In 2012, Sharene Menteath, Head of Academics at CTI Education Group, noted, “CTI Information Systems graduates are employed at the same level as university graduates, but require only one year of study and are likely to have earned an additional R100 000 before their university counterparts graduate.”
Founded in 1979, CTI formed a partnership with the private university, Midrand Graduate Institute (MGI) in 2006.
CTI, formerly known as the Computer Training Institute broadened its horizon with this and various other partnerships to include not only computer-related education but also other fields like accounting, commerce, graphic design, law and psychology.
And the human capital group, Adcorp, previously announced that the country faced shortages of highly skilled personnel in senior management, professionals in the medicine, engineering, accounting and law fields, technical occupations requiring technicians and artisans, as well as occupations in the agriculture industry.
Adcorp had calculated that the economy faces a shortage of 432 100 technicians, 216 200 managers and 178 400 professionals.
Ian Yoell, Regional Director of Edexcel Southern Africa, also commented: “Private colleges and FET institutions are well placed to positively impact the skills shortage that threatens our economy.
“Many of these institutions are delivering quality career-orientated qualifications – courses designed to prepare graduates for the workplace that include critical on the job training.
“Valuable qualifications from private colleges and FET institutions may help to ensure that a greater proportion of South Africa’s learners become independent, self-sufficient contributors to a sustainable economy.”
Credible private colleges such as the CTI Education Group offer nationally and internationally recognised diploma and degree courses in faculties including: information and technology, commerce, law and social sciences, and creative art and communications.
These qualifications offer many benefits to students keen to either enter the job market or continue to study for a higher degree at leading universities.
“The commerce faculty provides students with the opportunity to interact with experts in the field through their guest lecturer programme.
“Most degrees also offer an internship during the third year of study thereby exposing students to the workplace before graduating and starting their careers.
“CTI assists students with these valuable internship placements,” continued Menteath.
Vocational studies offered by private colleges and FET institutions are vitally important to the success of our economy and should be regarded as a viable study option.
With the South African Department of Education now in full support of private colleges and FET institutions an increase in quality establishments is expected.
Yoell concluded: “Young South Africans should thoroughly investigate all study options before ruling out any one course of tertiary education.
“International accreditation provided by Edexcel through private colleges and FET institutions can open many doors both locally and internationally.”
Edexcel, a Pearson company, s the UK’s largest awarding organisation offering academic and vocational qualifications and testing to schools, colleges, employers and other places of learning in the UK and internationally.
The company operates in more than 100 countries with 9 million examination scripts completed every year.
The company also designs course material that is modern, relevant and meets demands of worldwide employers and industry.
South African partners include CTI Education Group, Prestige College, COPA (contemporary music college) and Northlink (performing arts) private colleges, among others.
Earlier in 2012, Edexcel announced it was also teaming up with the Government of South Africa’s Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs).
According to research by the Durban-based PC Training and Business College (PCT&BC), the demand for the provision of private higher and further education and training in South Africa has increased significantly since the advent of democracy in 1994.
“There is as a consequence of the traditional universities experiencing marked over-subscriptions, resulting in students not being accepted as well as in less favourable academic staff to student ratios. The changing face of education, coupled with geographical factors in South Africa has also contributed to a demand for distance education also referred to as Open Distance Learning (ODL).”
ODL is an approach to education, which removes all the unnecessary barriers imposed on learning through location and work constraints.
This allows as many people as possible to take advantage of meaningful learning opportunities throughout their lives.
As an accepted and indispensable part of the mainstream of educational systems in both developed and developing countries, ODL has proved its worth by enabling any prospective student to register and study for a qualification at their own pace, in their own place in their own time. There are over 70 accredited private providers of distance higher education in South Africa who are registered with the Department of Education of which about 40 percent have provisional accreditation.
In a recent overview of distance learning it was reported that 85 percent of the higher education students that were studying through distance education were registered with South Africa’s only single mode institution, the University of South Africa (UNISA).
Considering that over the last 10 years in South Africa 40 percent of higher education enrolments, on average, have been for distance learning, it is imperative that higher learning institutions adopt ODL and offer relevant up to date course content utilising technology where possible.
And the PCT&BC, with over 70 campuses nationally, has been proactive in meeting these demands. As an education provider at the forefront of technology in South Africa, PC Training & Business College has introduced the Mobile Learning Academy (MLA), extending the opportunity of education to many more prospective students, including those that are currently employed. In 2013, PCT&BC Chief Executive Officer, Jay Ramnundall, explained, “We began implementing our strategy of making learning available to more potential learners, be they students, employers or those currently employed by introducing the Tablet in late 2011.
Besides the obvious environmental benefits of using less paper in the learning process, the tablet allows learners to access material wherever they have internet access.
The next logical step in the process has been to create a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), which is currently in progress.”
Ramnundall also stated, “Our strategy brings us in line with the recent comments by the Minister of Higher Education & Training, Blade Nzimande, where he called for colleges to be open for longer hours and on weekends in order to accommodate the working class. Our registration with the Department of Higher Education as a Private Higher Education Institution under the Higher Education Act 1998, where we are now fully accredited to provide courses in Open Distance Learning makes us available to this sector”.
An ever-increasing number of higher education institutions are transforming themselves from single mode to dual mode institutions, recognizing the importance of distance education in providing students with the best and most up-to-date educational resources available in addition to the traditional teaching methods that they receive.
Ranmundalall further explained, “If the fundamental right of all people to access learning is to be realised, we need to move towards e-learning methods such as open distance learning, affording everyone an opportunity to quality education.”
When questioned about the main factors that were considered in the implementation of Open Distance Learning, Ramnundall went on to say, “It is the growing need for continual skills upgrading, retraining and the technological advances that have made it possible to teach more and more subjects at a distance”.
According to the census statistics 2011, more than 50 percent of people in South Africa now have access to the Internet from home. This generates massive opportunity for individuals who previously could not access institutions of higher learning owing to geographical or work restraints.
Director of the ODL at PCT&BC, Professor Ahmed Sadeq Adam added, “Over the years, the approach to teaching, methodologies, technology and content have changed substantially to incorporate international standards in teaching and learning.
“The use of e-learning, m-learning and v-learning techniques have opened new doors to the way we teach and learn and these modes of technological advancement take us to a whole new level of teaching and learning.”
Professor Adam has identified the advantages of the Mobile Learning Academy to the various sectors as follows: for the student/learner, MLA means increased access and flexibility as well as the combination of work and education. It may also mean a more learner-centred approach, enrichment, higher quality and new ways of interaction.
For employers it offers high quality and more efficient ways cost effective professional development in the workplace. It allows upgrading of skills, increased productivity and development of a new learning culture. In addition, it means sharing of costs, of training time, and increased portability of training.
The currently employed an opportunity to improve their skills, offers a great degree of flexibility to earn while you earn and self-improvement.
And for governments the main potential is to increase the capacity and cost effectiveness of education and training systems, to reach target groups with limited access to conventional education and training, to support and enhance the quality and relevance of existing educational structures, to ensure the connection of educational institutions and curricula to the emerging networks and information resources, and to promote innovation and opportunities for lifelong learning.
With the rapid development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the move towards more knowledge-intensive, interdependent and internationalized societies this creates new challenges and opportunities for the design and delivery of education.
It is clear that private colleges are necessary in assisting the government to provide potential students an alternative to means to accessing education. The globalisation of ODL provides many opportunities for developing countries for the realisation of their education system-wide goals and opens up new horizons for progress and the exchange of creativity and intercultural dialogue.
Meanwhile, Hisense’s commitment to training new employees does not end there. Once the current programme is concluded, new workplaces skills planning (WSP) programme will be submitted to skills education training authority MERSETA by the end of April, and following this, will begin in May 2016.
Plastics SA is an accredited training provider, registered with the MERSETA, which enables Hisense to qualify for both mandatory and discretionary grants. While mandatory grants are smaller monthly grants, the discretionary grant is the larger one, but this is subject to a current audit.
Plastics SA offers a strong and diverse line-up of learning skills programmes ranging from skills that do not fit into the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) qualifications all the way up to NQF Level 4 and Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) assessment on NQF Level 5.
These include thermoplastic welding (butt, hot air, electrofusion welding) and principles of quality (NQF level 2), up to the fabrication of polymer composite parts and manufacturing and assembly operations supervision (NQF Level 4). Plastics¦SA was also able to source courses that it did not facilitate, as per Hisense’s needs.
Last month, in a landmark empowerment partnership deal, Sphere Holdings (Sphere) will acquire a 22.5 percent stake in Pearson South Africa Proprietary Limited (Pearson South Africa). The Sphere transaction together with the Pearson Marang Education Trust’s 2.5 percent holding raises Pearson South Africa’s black ownership level to 25 percent.
Pearson South Africa is a subsidiary of Pearson plc, the world’s largest education company. Sphere is an established black-owned and managed investment holding company with a highly successful track record as an active long term investor in local and multinational companies providing critical infrastructure, and social and industrial goods and services to South and Southern Africa.
Meanwhile, the Steve JobsSchools have recently been recognised as the ‘Most Innovative Schools in the World’ by US-based TechInsider magazine.
This is why it is incredible to see that two Steve JobsSchools were launched in South Africa and Africa on 23 June 2016.
The Steve JobsSchools are known for embracing the latest technologies in education and learning.
The Internationally acclaimed Steve JobsSchool model is based on every child having an independent learning plan (ILP), centred on their own way of learning, their strengths and choices. The school is available 24/7 and the learning plan, educational programmes and educational apps are accessed from the learners’ smart devices and supported by special workshops, experiments and projects at school.
The concept is based on the drivers of choice, collaboration and challenge, coupled with innovative technologies to develop personalised learning.  In addition, the Steve JobsSchool are geared to equip learners with the skills they will need for 2025 and beyond.