Relatively new – and often misunderstood – kids on the education block are the Further Education and Training (FET) colleges.
Established by the FET Act in 1998, the 150 institutions formerly known as technical colleges went through a process of change to re-emerge as 50 FET colleges.
So what are FET colleges? Are they for vocational training, for adult education, or for learners who find themselves ill-suited to mainstream curricula and schools?
In fact, they’re a bit of all of these. Technisa is one good example, with its main campus located in Randburg, Gauteng. In certain ways, Technisa is a unique FET college. For one thing, it was founded in 1984 and was not involved in the subsequent mergers and changes in the sector. Also, Technisa is the only public open distance learning FET institution in the country.
To live up to its slogan, ‘We bring education to your community”, Technisa has eight centres spread around Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and Namibia. The college has a staff of about 70 (including lecturers) and an average of 5 000 to 6 000 learners enrolled each year.
Fees are between R70 and R740 per subject, which includes study materials and one-on-one lectures available on request. Discounts are given to people studying in prisons, while other learners who cannot afford tuition are allowed to study one subject at a time. ‘Where we can we do give free assistance to schools for children with learning disabilities,” says Technisa rector Qetelo Masitha.
But like all other FET colleges, Technisa caters for a wide
spectrum of learners: youth who seek vocational training, and unskilled labourers and other adult employees who wish to advance their education.
Its reach is also reflected in the range of academic levels on offer. Technisa offers national certificates in trimester and semester courses from N1 – which is equivalent to Grade 10 – to N6 (the equivalent of a technical diploma), as well as year courses at National Intermediate Certificate and National Senior Certificate levels on a part-time basis.
‘Student-friendly” courses are on offer for people who failed to complete Grade 9 in order to give them access to further education. These courses include elementary Technisa studies; a national certificate in orientation (engineering); and numeracy, literacy and entrepreneurship skills-courses at adult basic education and training (Abet) levels 1 to 4, which are seen as introductory courses.
Technisa works in partnership with the corporate world to offer in-service training for students and workplace training programmes for employees. ‘Quite a number of employees have registered in such workplace training programmes during the past few years and managed to work their way up in the company through a learning path created for them by Technisa,” explains Masitha. The college is currently in the process of forming partnerships as an educational provider with companies offering learnerships .
A variety of courses are on offer in the three areas of engineering studies, business studies and general studies. Engineering studies include: building, installation rules, mathematics and sciences, mining, paint technology, fertiliser manufacturing, footwear manufacturing, pulp and paper making and textile technology.
Business studies comprise business management, financial management, human resources, public relations and marketing management.
General courses include an early childhood development certificate, educare, funeral directing, hair care theory and travel and tourism.
Skills development with an eye on self-employment opportunities is also close to Technisa’s heart. Short courses on offer include entrepreneurship studies, small business start-up and management.