Wiseman Khuzwayo
The Steel and Engineering Industries Federation of SA (Seifsa) says it welcomes the announcement by President Jacob Zuma that R2.5 billion is to be allocated towards the refurbishment and construction of further education and training (FET) colleges over the next three years.
Zuma made the announcement at a skills development summit in Pretoria last Wednesday.
Seifsa said that the colleges had a key role to play in building a larger and more vibrant sector as a central component of skills development in South Africa, by providing general vocational training as well as the theoretical component of apprentice training for young people.
It said it was widely recognised that the colleges, previously called technical colleges, were weak institutions facing problems of leadership, management, funding and support when compared with institutions in the better-resourced higher education sector.
Seifsa said: “Very poor student pass rates have been cause for major concern to the employer community since the colleges have a key role to play in providing a pipeline of young people ready to embark on further education and training or to enter the world of work with appropriate skills and competencies.”
Seifsa added that the recently released Department of Higher Education and Training green paper for post-school education and training quoted the dismal statistic that the N-course certification rate over the years had remained constantly poor, at about 12 percent.
Equally alarming was the fact that the newer national certificate (vocational) programmes demonstrated a 4 percent throughput rate of the first 2007 students who completed the three-year qualification in 2009.
In many respects, the colleges had been failing young people and employers, and were often seen as the stepchild of the post-school system.
Seifsa said: “The metal and engineering industry is the largest trainer of apprentices in South Africa by a long chalk and so the upgrading and repositioning of the further education and training colleges should enable them to play a major role in preparing young people for the world of work in the technical and trade arena.”