Examining deliberative democratic engagement in private general education and training

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT : Single-subject private education providers are prejudiced by the perceivedmisinterpretations and subtle changes to current policies regarding qualityassurance, accreditation and registration in South Africa's educational framework.This problem is illustrated through a case study of an existing institution that offersschool subjects, but is not a school. It is also not a college for further education andtraining. As a result, the institution is not able to receive accreditation and registrationstatus with the state.What makes this particularly problematic and urgent is that single-subject providersof tuition of Mathematics and Physical Science are being excluded from contributingto the development of scarce and necessary skills in this field. This study raised thequestion why legislation, policies and regulations have been amended to excludespecialist providers, when the Department of Higher Education has published aWhite Paper for Post-School Education and Training, which stipulates the need forprogrammes that focus on Mathematics and Physical Science that may not beavailable in Technical Vocational Education and Training colleges. The overarchingaim of this study was therefore to present a convincing argument suggestingpossible opportunities for the quality assurance and regulatory bodies, to considerthe advantages of providing accreditation and registration to private providers ofgeneral and further education and training.This thesis concludes with the reminder that section 29(1)(a) of the Constitution ofthe Republic of South Africa states:[E]veryone has a basic right to education, including adult basic education … andthat the State must consider all reasonable educational alternatives, includingsingle medium institutions taking into account equity; practicability; and the needto redress the results of past racially discriminatory laws and practices.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University