Repositioning of technical colleges within the transformation of education in South Africa

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT:Education a Training forms such an integral part of the community that it can never remain unaffected bythe fundamental impact of the transformation taking place within a democratising new South Africa. Thetransformation of the education processes is also consistent with international trends. The drift towardsdecentralisation, away from the rigid formal structures and systems of the old dispensation, and thecrumbling of boundaries to create a freer and more flexible dispensation, are also indicative of postmodernistthinking.This study has found that technical colleges, throughout their complex history, have admirably withstoodand repelled the onslaughts on their right to exist, and that they have indeed managed to strengthen theirindispensable position in the education and training system of South Africa. In spite of the wealth ofinstructional and training opportunities in the local and global market, colleges once again findthemselves at a new crossroad with the restructuring of the South African Education system as a whole.These changes, which embrace all levels and areas of technical colleges, are also typical of a postmodernistview and include, inter alia, the following: control and management, funding, level ofprogrammes that ought to be offered, curriculum, composition of staff corps, instructional approach,evaluation and admission policy. The only constant in most cases are the physical facilities andbuildings. The nature and extent of the changes has placed the colleges at the centre of a tangle ofconfusion. The lack of leadership on the part of the provincial education departments and the lack ofinvolvement of the business sector only add to the anxiety and unanswered questions at colleges.The researcher has found that technical college have enormous potential and a central role to fulfil in thedevelopment of future human resources in South Africa. Policy-makers should, therefore guard againstintroducing restrictive measures that would limit the focus of the colleges to the FET level. It wouldhamper the articulation of learners, thwart the approach of providing 'seamless education', and constrainthe development of existing qualities. For once in the history of education in South Africa, there is anurgent need for policy-makers and those responsible for implementing such policies to give theirundivided attention to this 'orphan', who has such a vital role to play in the economy and educationalsystem of South Africa.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University