[ Home ] [ Documents ] [ Green Papers ]

Green Paper on Further Education and Training

PREPARING FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
THROUGH EDUCATION, TRAINING AND WORK

15 APRIL 1998

ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, PRETORIA

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword
Acknowledgements

CHAPTER 1 BACKGROUND

CHAPTER 2 WHY CHANGE IS ESSENTIAL

CHAPTER 3 A NEW FRAMEWORK FOR FET

CHAPTER 4 QUALIFICATIONS, LEARNING PROGRAMMES,
CURRICULUM AND QUALITY ASSURANCE

CHAPTER 5 FUNDING

CHAPTER 6 GOVERNANCE, INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND LEGISLATION

CHAPTER 7 IMPLEMENTING THE GREEN PAPER

APPENDICES

FOREWORD

I am pleased to release this Green Paper on Further Education and Training (FET). The release of this Green Paper follows substantive consultations conducted by the National Committee on Further Education (NCFE). The NCFE, a Ministerial committee, was appointed on 18 September 1996. Its brief was to investigate the FET sector and advise on all aspects of post-compulsory education and training prior to entry into higher education or work. The committee was requested to make recommendations regarding a plan and time frames for implementation, evaluation and further development regarding the sector. The report was handed to me on 14 August 1997.

The present Green Paper is the first step in the formulation of policy for FET and follows consultations within the Department as well as the Steering Committee, made up of my Department and the Department of Labour.

A well developed FET sector in South Africa will no doubt make a considerable contribution to the envisioned economic growth of the country. The reason for this is that this sector is situated at the intersection of a wide range of government policies, which are critical to the new information-based economy. These include macro-economic, industrial, labour market and human resource development policies. Government co-ordination across these domains is key to their success and to the establishment of a policy framework which will promote the development of the human capacities, knowledge and skills of our people.

The achievement of our national goals will require nothing less than a collective effort from all our partners, both in the public and private sectors. The policies developed in this Green Paper are complementary to the Skills Development Strategy of the Department of Labour in that both are intended to set in motion lifelong learning, employability and increased productivity in our country.

The publication of this Green Paper marks the beginning of further discussions on the nature, direction and organisation of the FET sector, which until now has been characterised by inefficiency, fragmentation and variable levels of quality. The Department of Education and I are looking forward to the discussions, written comments and responses that will assist us in developing a government White Paper and associated legislation for FET.

I take this opportunity to thank everyone who participated and contributed in various forms in this Green Paper process, and also those from whom comments are awaited.

PROFESSOR S.M.E. BENGU
MINISTER OF EDUCATION

APRIL 1998 

Acknowledgements

The Department of Education wishes to record its appreciation to the following for their assistance in the preparation and production of the Green Paper on Further Education and Training:

Dr Andre Kraak, Mr Glen Fisher, Mr Motsumi Makhene, Ms Shirley Steenekamp and Dr Jane Hofmeyr

International Consultants
Dr Bill Hall (Australia), Dr William Sennet (Canada), Dr Stan Koplick (USA ), Mr Rob de Kiewit (Netherlands), Mr Jan de Kanter (Netherlands) and Dr Luis Crouch (USA).

Members of the Steering Committee
Representing the Department of Education: Mr Khetsi Lehoko, Dr Peet le Roux, Dr Nomsa Mgijima, Adv Eben Boshoff, Ms Gugu Nxumalo, Mr Ahmed Essop, Mr Andre Reyneke, Ms Salama Hendricks, Mr Vis Naidoo, Mr Cashief Lombard and Dr Daan Visser.

Representing the Department of Labour: Ms Adrienne Bird, Dr Peliwe Lolwana, Mr Sam Morotoba, Mr Lindsay Falkov and Ms Nkhabele Prusent.

Administration and technical support
Mrs Sandra Sooklal, Ms Itumeleng Mathibe and Ms Nandi Ntsaluba.

[ Top ]

CHAPTER ONE

Background

This chapter makes the point that Further Education and Training (FET) is crucial to South Africa's development. It sketches the process that has led up to the publication of this Green Paper and sets the scene for the policy proposals that follow.  

1. Introduction

1. 1 The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act 108 of 1996) (Section 29 (1)) states clearly that everyone has the right:

• to a basic education, including adult basic education, and
• to further education, which the state, through reasonable measures, must make progressively available and accessible.

1. 2 It is in pursuit of this right, and in fulfilment of government's obligations under the Constitution to make further education progressively available, that this Green Paper puts forward a new framework for Further Education and Training (FET).

1.2.1 The measures outlined here are aimed at the development of a vibrant, innovative and responsive FET system, through which the people of South Africa can develop their full human potential and contribute to the building of a just, democratic and prosperous society.

1.2.2 The importance of FET is widely recognised internationally. When broadly conceptualised, FET contributes to social cohesion, to the social and cultural life of society and to economic growth and prosperity.

1.2.3 In the South African context, FET has a key role to play in developing the skills through which the basic needs of our people can be met and the foundations laid for growth and democracy.

1.2.4 Moreover, as we approach the 21st century, FET is fast becoming an important strategic force, in a context where a country's ability to compete effectively in the global economy increasingly depends on the knowledge and skills of its people. The pace of scientific and technological advancement, and the challenges and opportunities of the information age, mean that high quality education and training, and lifelong learning, are essential if South Africa is to keep abreast of changes in the nature of knowledge and in methods of production.

1.2.5 If FET is to fulfil its key role in promoting lifelong learning, personal development, economic growth, nation-building and the creation of a just and equitable society, it must be transformed. This Green Paper is an important step forward in that transformation process. 

2. The Green Paper process

2.1 The Green Paper builds upon an extensive process of research and consultation, which culminated in August 1997 in the Report of the National Committee on Further Education (NCFE). The NCFE Report raised important issues and made a number of significant recommendations and proposals. These recommendations have informed the Ministry's views as put forward in this Green Paper.

2.2 A major challenge which has faced the writers and contributors to this Green Paper is the fact that the FET system has only recently been defined as a specific band, located between general education and training (GET) and higher education (HE), and inclusive of all education and training programmes between levels 2 and 4 on the new National Qualifications Framework (NQF). The FET band brings into one conceptual framework widely diverse groups of learners and stakeholders, including pre-employed, unemployed and employed youth and adults. A variety of institutions, agencies, government departments and stakeholders, including millions of current and potential learners, have direct but often divergent interests in the provision of FET or in accessing FET. It is this very diversity and fragmentation, and the need to adopt a coherent approach to the development of this critical middle band of the education and training system, which lay behind the establishment of the NCFE, and which have informed the development of this Green Paper.

3. A definition of FET

3.1 FET consists of all learning and training programmes from NQF Levels 2 to 4, or the equivalent of Grades 10 to 12 in the school system. It is the band within the NQF which follows directly on GET and precedes HE. Learners enter FET after the completion of the compulsory phase of education at Grade 9 or Level 1 of the NQF.

3.2 FET is not compulsory education. By definition, it has no age limit. Its goal is to promote lifelong learning and education on-the-job.

Below is a graphic representation of the FET band and its relationship to the GET and HE bands within the NQF... 

[ Top ]

This diagram has been adapted from that of SAQA.

4. The provision of FET

4.1 FET is provided directly or through distance education by:

1. public schools
2. public colleges
3. independent schools
4. independent colleges
5. on-the-job trainers.

4.2 In keeping with the Report of the NCFE, the Ministry's vision of a future FET system is as follows:

FET will be an open learning system, responsive to the needs of individuals and communities, and contributing to the development of the country's human resources. It will make flexible, relevant, accessible, high quality FET programmes progressively available to all eligible citizens who are capable of benefiting from them. In so doing, it  will promote the development of human talents and abilities, the redress of past inequalities, and the building of a just, democratic and prosperous society.

4.3 The mission of FET is to foster intermediate to high level skills, lay the foundation for HE, facilitate the transition from school to work, develop well-educated, autonomous citizens and provide opportunities for lifelong learning through the articulation of learning programmes.

4.4 The NCFE Report notes that, after GET, FET is the largest phase of learning, costing the country over R10 billion annually and encompassing some 3 million learners and 8000 providers, excluding companies.

4.5 FET is also the most complex and diverse phase of education and training, comprising 13 types of providers, categorised into four main sectors: secondary schools, publicly funded colleges, private off-the-job providers and work-based education and training. Responsibility for FET largely falls to the national and provincial departments of education, but the Department of Labour (DoL), other government departments and private providers including companies, are also important role players.

5. The commitment of the Ministry to the transformation of FET

5.1 The FET band is situated at the intersection of a wide range of government policies which are critical to the new information-based economy. These include macro-economic, industrial, labour market and human resource development policies. Government co-ordination across these domains is key to their success and to the development of a policy framework which will promote the development of the human capacities, knowledge and skills of our people.

5.2 Transforming FET to meet the challenges of the present and the future will not be an easy task. It will entail changing public perceptions and attitudes regarding the FET band. It will require rethinking and reinterpreting the dominant positions which both GET and HE currently occupy in the political economy of educational reconstruction. Some of the country's best minds, resources and funds will need to be redirected to the FET sector.

5.3 We need transformation on a major scale. Such an intervention cannot come from the state alone but must involve all stakeholders and interest groups. Transformation will require more effective state co-ordination, greater private sector investment and involvement, and greater community and individual initiative. The transformation of FET is a project which must succeed, and to which we must all be committed. 

6. A developmental approach

6.1 The Green Paper adopts a strongly developmental approach to the transformation of FET. Development is used here in two senses: first, to signal the critical role of FET in social and economic development, and second, to make the point that implementation of the Ministry's vision and strategy will require serious and systematic efforts to overcome the resource and capacity constraints which hold back the pace of change.

6.2 Our national system of FET must be increasingly responsive to the country's needs, and it will at the same time build capacity and introduce essential changes in a planned and responsible manner.

What this chapter means in practice

Believing that FET is central to South Africa's social and economic development, and to the future of our young democracy, the Ministry of Education is deeply committed to its transformation.

Transformation must involve the private sector and the community, working in partnership with government.

FET must become more relevant and responsive to the needs of its three major client-groups - the pre-employed, the employed and the unemployed. Transformation of the system to meet these needs will impact upon all providers of education and training, including schools, colleges and private providers.

CHAPTER TWO

Why change is essential

This chapter explains why change to FET is essential. FET must respond to rising social demands and to new local and international economic realities. 

[ Top ]

1. Introduction

1.1 The pressures for the transformation of South Africa's FET sector are compelling and substantial. They emerge out of a wide array of social and economic conditions.

1.2 Some of the most pressing demands for change arise from the legacy of apartheid and the social inequalities it generated. Others stem from the sense of system failure within the FET band itself, in particular the deep-rooted problems that confront the public school system, the low morale of many staff, the poor quality of provision in certain institutions, the relative inability to place trained learners in jobs, and the lack of articulation between key FET institutions and the labour market.

1.3 Still other pressures are relatively new, particularly those generated from outside the FET system. The most important of these is the phenomenon of globalisation, which poses unavoidable challenges for the future of FET in South Africa.

2. Inefficiencies of South Africa's FET system

2.1 FET systems world-wide may be judged on the one hand by the effectiveness of their articulation with work and on the other by the extent to which they grant meaningful access to higher and lifelong learning. In South Africa, at present, the FET system as a whole fails on both counts. This failure occurs despite pockets of undoubted excellence and innovation.

2.2 The following are some of the problems that characterise the current system:

2.2.1 A lack of coherence and co-ordination: FET as presently constituted is fragmented and unplanned. While the Ministry supports the principles of diversity and responsiveness, the current system is dysfunctional to the extent that no overall vision and strategy guides its development or determines priorities.

2.2.2 A lack of funding coherence: The funding of programmes is uneven across different sites of provision and creates distorted incentives and disincentives.

2.2.3 Poorly articulated programmes: Different FET programmes and qualifications are poorly articulated, inhibiting student mobility and leading to high levels of inefficiency. Programmes differ widely with respect to quality, standards of provision, outcomes and curriculum.

2.2.4 Separate education and training tracks: FET provision reflects rigid and outmoded distinctions between `academic' education and `vocational' training. Consequently, technical and vocational education lacks parity of esteem with traditional schooling. Yet, the quality of the general `academic' education provided to the majority of South Africans is poor and there are few second-chance opportunities for those who have been failed by the system. New entrants into the labour market generally lack appropriate knowledge and skills. Opportunities for the employed are limited, while the needs of those who do not have formal jobs, and whose main hope of making a living lies in the informal sector and in small and medium enterprises, are largely neglected.

2.2.5 Weak linkages with industry: Employers argue that many programmes offered by technical colleges and regional training centres are irrelevant and outdated. Equipment is antiquated and tuition is of poor overall quality.

2.2.6 The legacy of apartheid: Among the most devastating consequences of apartheid were its effects on the education system. Black secondary schools bore the brunt of the apartheid assault upon our young people. The discriminatory character of apartheid education was all too visible in the limited range, lack of relevance and poor quality of learning programmes and qualifications. Black technical colleges lacked meaningful linkages with industry and were largely disconnected from the local economy.

2.2.7 Organisational ethos and the culture of learning, teaching and service: Adverse working conditions and a breakdown in the culture of learning, teaching and service are reflected in poor morale, a poor work ethic and low professional self-esteem amongst many educators. An authoritarian management culture still pervades many institutions, which accentuates race and gender inequality within the sector.

2.2.8 A distorted labour market: A distorted labour market is perhaps the most visible legacy of apartheid. While the key social institutions and practices of the past (job reservation, pass laws, influx control, segregated townships and low-wage labour) have been legally abolished, their effects live on. This is particularly evident in the poor articulation between education, training and work, in the phenomena of jobless growth and mass unemployment, in continuing racial obstacles to occupational mobility, in the paradox of continuing skills shortages at a time of declining investments in training, and, most devastatingly, in the collapse of the youth labour market. These problems are exacerbated by low enrolments in science, engineering and technology - fields essential to the achievement of higher levels of technological innovation and productivity. 

The paradox of skill shortages in the face of declining investments in training

One of the most contradictory features of the South African labour market has been the claim by employers and labour market experts of acute skill shortages in certain fields at precisely the same time as employers cut back on skills training. These claims have been made ever since the boom years of the late 1960s. They have had some validity in certain specific occupations requiring high-skills and high-tech inputs, for example, in new technological fields such as informatics and biotechnology, and in the demend for high-tech artisans. They also arise as a consequence of the general drift to more intermediate and high-skills jobs. However, the generalised claim regarding skill shortages is probably more a reflection of the dissatisfaction among employers regarding the poor outputs of apartheid schooling and the massive illiteracy levels of semi-skilled workers.

However, these claims appear contradictory when the training track record of employers is scrutinised over the past two decades. In figures provided by the DoL, total industrial training undertaken by the private sector and public training centres declined from a peak of 736 581 in 1986 to a dismal 205 260 in 1994 - a mere 2.9% of the economically active population who received some form of training. Registered apprenticeship contracts declined from 33 752 in 1985 to 22 015 in 1994, and the annual indenturing of apprentices declined from 11 573 to 5 002 in the same period. Enterprise-based training declined from a peak of 457 255 in 1984 to a dismal 85 736 in 1994.

In a report commissioned by NEDLAC in 1996, it was shown that although only 12% of firms do not train, if dissaggregated, the figures show that only 25% of small firms train, 42% of firms spend less than 1% of payroll on training, and 65% of firms spend less than 2% of payroll. In another study, while 87% of firms claimed to train, about 70% provided only initial induction-type training to entry-level workers. Of those firms who claimed to do retraining, 74% acknowledged that it was only informal on-the-job training.

In short, these figures reflect the crisis gripping industrial training and vocational education in South Africa. They reflect a serious malfunctioning of the labour market which is manifested, historically, in a set of education and training, employer and governmental departments which have worked at odds with each other, giving out contradictory signals about the skills needs and shortages, with employers doing very little actual training. These labour market institutions have failed to provide a basis for a coherent and consistent labour market policy and human resource development strategy for the medium- to long-term. The need to correct this failure and malfunctioning is more urgent now than ever before.

The collapse of the youth labour market

The most socially devastating impact of instutional malfunction has been the collapse of the youth labour market. As more and more young adults survive the school system and matriculate, fewer and fewer jobs are available to them. It has been estimated that by the year 2005 there will be at least 250 000 students with matriculation exemption and a further 500 000 with a FET Certificate. If efficiency and pass rates improve in the intervening years, the numbers could expand to over 800 000 school leavers with a FET certificate. Half the estimated 4 million
2.3 All of these indicators suggest a crisis of major proportions. A national effort is required to correct the distortions of the past, meet the needs of our people, and lay the foundations for a successful society and economy in the globally competitive conditions of the 21st century. This transformation will require a strong political consensus concerning the need for change, strategic interventions by government and the private sector, the development of new partnerships, and radical shifts in behaviour on the part of government, industry and individual learners.

3. Changing social demands

Fundamental social change is under way in post-apartheid South Africa. These changes place new demands upon the FET system, centred on the themes of redress, lifelong learning, nation-building and the creation of a new relationship between the state and its citizens. Each of these demands is briefly discussed below.

3.1 Redress: Redress of the wrongs inflicted under apartheid is a fundamental demand of our new society, and a central principle of this Green Paper. The issues of staff representivity, student access, equitable funding arrangements, staff development programmes, capacity building and the rebuilding of disadvantaged institutions must challenge all providers.

3.2 Lifelong learning and the expansion of FET: South Africa is at the threshold of an increasing shift towards lifelong learning and growing demands for the expansion of FET to accommodate new as well as traditional learners. These trends are in keeping with experience in other parts of the world, where demographic, social, cultural and economic pressures have led to a shift from `closed' to `open' education and training systems. The development of a unemployed are young people under the age of 30 with at least nine years schooling.

Solutions to the collapse of the youth labour market lie primarily in the establishment of high levels of job-creating economic growth. However, the apparent irrelevance to employment of 9-12 years of formal schooling is a major indictment of the current matriculation system. Such irrelevance sends obvious signals that a greater convergence is necessary between formal schooling and the needs of work. more responsive, open FET system, geared to the demands for personal and community as well as economic development are confronting government, the private sector, communities and individual learners with new challenges.

3.3 Nation-building: Apartheid denied full citizenship to the majority of our people and created a society divided along lines of race, class, language, culture, and religion. Building a new national identity, which embraces diversity, is a key task of reconstructing our society, and one to which FET must contribute.

3.4 A new relationship between the state, civil society and the individual: Along with many other countries South Africa is witnessing a shift in the role of the state, away from `social welfare' or `entitlement' models, to a new state-citizen relationship based on greater state efficiency, effectiveness and accountability in the provision of public services and on greater responsibility, participation and cost-sharing by individuals, communities and the private sector. These developments, which are squarely located within government's quest for an African Renaissance, have critical consequences and pose important challenges for FET.

[ Top ]

4. New economic realities

4.1 FET is indispensable to the economic future of the country, both in its immediate relationship to work and in its role in preparing learners for HE. These roles are profoundly affected, first, by the moral and social imperative to meet the basic needs of our people, and second, by changes in the local and global economies. These issues are closely inter-related.

4.2 Perhaps the most significant of the new challenges is the economic and social phenomenon known as globalisation and the requirement this imposes on our national economy to respond - in terms of trade, technology, knowledge and skills - to a rapidly changing world economy.

4.3 Globalisation refers to important changes presently taking place largely in the social and economic sectors of the advanced economies. New information technologies, the internationalisation of finance capital and the rise of innovative forms of work organisation have created a new production paradigm. This paradigm is characterised by flexible specialisation and the manufacture of high-quality exports aimed at specific niche markets. Innovation and the ability to add value to existing designs are at the heart of the new system. This new competitive environment has brought with it new education and training demands. Enterprises require entire labour forces that are sufficiently skilled to adapt to highly unpredictable and volatile global product markets and rapid technological change. They require broad problem-solving skills to anticipate flaws in production. Workers need to understand how the new technologies can be optimally applied, how the entire production process unfolds, and how to respond effectively when unexpected factors arise.

4.4 The need for high level skills and knowledge also arises as a result of the rise of teamwork and multi-skilling at enterprise level. Workers today increasingly work in teams responsible for complex manufacturing tasks. This represents a significant shift from past traditions where workers were allocated narrowly defined tasks, leaving them ill-equipped to understand and thereby improve the overall production environment.

4.5 The phenomenon of globalisation should not, however, be viewed simplistically, or overstated. South Africa's adaptation to this new world economic order has been slow and partial. This is so for a number of reasons:

4.5.1 Import-substituting industrialisation: Local manufacturing is ill-prepared to adapt successfully to `flexible specialisation'. The roots of this problem can be traced back to South Africa's long history of import-substituting industrialisation. Strategies such as the application of import tariffs and state support for the production of locally made goods were essentially inward-looking, feeding off a small local market of white consumers. Tariff protection has shielded local manufacturers from international competition, leaving them under-prepared to enter the global market on a competitive footing.

4.5.2 The continuance of mass-production: The partial impact of globalisation has also to do with the smallness of South Africa's high-skill, high-tech manufacturing sector, and the persistance of other, more traditional economic sectors, such as mass production manufacturing, with its heavy reliance on semi-skilled and skilled artisan labour. South Africa has not yet made the great leap to high-skill `flexible specialisation'.

4.5.3 The decline of manufacturing and the rise of the services sector: Globalisation as a phenomenon impacts primarily on manufacturing. But the manufacturing sector in South Africa, as in other parts of the world, has been contracting since the late 1970s. This decline stands in sharp contrast to the growth in jobs in the financial and services sectors. Employment and education and training strategies need to adapt to these important shifts.

4.5.4 An imbalance between the rise in high-skill jobs and the decline of low-skill labour: Automation and other technological innovations ushered in by globalisation have displaced many unskilled and semi-skilled jobs, replacing them with new, intermediate to high-skill jobs. In many countries, however, the rise of new high-skill jobs has taken place at a slower rate than the rate at which low-skill jobs have been lost, leading to a rise in unemployment.

4.5.5 The significance of the rural and informal economies: Perhaps only 30% of South Africans are the beneficiaries of formal employment. The majority of citizens find themselves systematically excluded from full employment and urban life. Many are engaged in the informal economy, especially in cities and towns. Many others are unemployed. In these local economies, world-class manufacturing is likely to have little role to play, beyond the limited possibility of some outsourcing and the growth of small informal sector businesses.

4.6 In short, globalisation has a double-edged impact on developing economies such as ours. On the one hand it has the potential to raise the general skills and education and training levels required by workers in the formal economy. On the other hand, globalisation may have negative consequences for vulnerable and marginalised groups and communities.

4.7 The challenge that globalisation poses for FET is to respond both to the demands of global economic competition and to the local challenge of meeting basic needs.

5. The need for a multi-pronged FET strategy

5.1 These divergent social and economic conditions suggest that, if FET is to meet the varied needs of individuals and communities and contribute effectively to social and economic development, a flexible and responsive, multi-pronged strategy is required.

5.2 While FET policy and planning must take cognisance of the inescapable realities of globalisation, it must ensure at the same time that local needs and priorities shape our interaction with the global economy, through the implementation of equitable, relevant and effective human resource development policies.

5.3 The FET system can contribute in important ways to the development of an export-led and globally competitive manufacturing sector through the education and training of a highly skilled and innovative workforce. However, the highly differentiated character of the South African economy imposes a range of additional responsibilities. These responsibilities have first and foremost to do with meeting the needs of vulnerable and marginalised communities. Through the programmes it offers, the people it trains, and the community development initiatives it supports, the FET system can be a crucial resource and catalyst for change.

6. Responsiveness to diversity

6.1 Variety of providers

6.1.1 Different FET providers have complementary roles to play in responding to the diversity of social, economic and personal needs that confront the FET system. These roles are not based on arbitrary or rigid distinctions between types of institutions, but flow naturally from the various constituencies and purposes which institutions serve.

6.1.2 To meet these varied needs, the Ministry will promote the development of a coherent, co-ordinated FET system which recognises diversity. This system will include the following types of FET provider - public schools, public colleges, independent schools, independent colleges and on-the-job trainers. The Ministry believes that the boundaries between these types of providers should be permeable and that co-operation within and between the different FET sectors should be encouraged wherever possible. These sectors are briefly discussed below.

[ Top ]

6.2 Senior secondary schools

6.2.1 The Green Paper proposes a number of important changes to the senior secondary phase of formal schooling. The development of the NQF as spelt out in the South African Qualifications Authority Act of 1996, the implementation of an outcomes-based approach to education and training, and the shift in learning and teaching frameworks from content-driven to programme-oriented models as outlined in Curriculum 2005 now need to be extended to the senior secondary phase.

6.2.2 A new qualifications structure is proposed. It will be based on a more flexible combination of fundamental, core and elective learning credits, with the aim of linking education and training, theory and practice, and head, hand and heart more closely together. The new structure will offer greater breadth, in terms of mathematical and communicative literacy, and depth, in terms of core and elective learning which links learners more closely to the needs of higher and lifelong learning, and to work and career development.

6.2.3 Closer integration of education and training in the FET band will also be promoted by encouraging institutional co-operation and joint curriculum development between senior secondary schools, FET colleges and private and enterprise-based providers of education and training. Such initiatives will expose young learners to a range of learning options which cut across the traditional divisions between academic and vocational learning, and between classroom or college-based and workplace experience. In short, what the Ministry envisages is a new, broad-based curriculum which encourages linkages between schools, colleges, higher learning institutions and work.

6.2.4 The Ministry has already established a Curriculum and Qualifications Task Team, which will be responsible for re-conceptualising and rewriting the subjects, learning programmes and instructional frameworks for senior secondary schools and technical colleges. This initiative will provide the basis for a new, integrated curriculum which will broaden the range of career options for young learners, and which will be more relevant and responsive to the real employment prospects and HE opportunities that exist beyond FET.

6.3 FET colleges

6.3.1 An expanded and revitalised FET college sector will have a fundamental role to play in meeting the diverse social and economic needs outlined above. The Ministry intends outlining a pathway towards increased autonomy for colleges, within the framework of a new Further Education and Training Act. Colleges will be encouraged to forge partnerships with employers and with other FET institutions, such as schools and training centres, in order to expand the range of learning opportunities that they provide and career paths to which they grant access. Diversity and responsiveness will be promoted through the  operation of the new funding, governance and curriculum frameworks proposed in this Green Paper.

6.3.2 As part of its new mandate, the FET college sector will be charged with progressively bringing about sufficient access to further education and training for all who qualify and are likely to benefit from it. This mandate will place FET colleges at the forefront of efforts to develop innovative and responsive open learning systems and to meet new social and economic demands.

6.3.3 Within this broad mandate some colleges may choose to focus their energies on self-employment, small business, entrepreneurial, community development and self-improvement programmes relevant to their local communities. Other colleges, more closely integrated into the formal economy, may concentrate on the provision of intermediate to high-level skills required by an increasingly export-competitive manufacturing economy. The different institutional missions and relationships to the economy will evolve in local and regional contexts, driven by local and regional needs. Access to HE will continue to be an important strand of FET college provision.

6.4 Private providers and enterprise-based training

6.4.1 The success of enterprise-based industrial training policies rests on a balance between market-led, enterprise-based initiatives in training, and effective state co-ordination of the larger institutional and governance environments.

6.4.2 The DoL's Green Paper, A Skills Development Strategy for Economic and Employment Growth in South Africa, adopts this balanced approach. It emphasises:

• a proactive approach to creating new skill demands
• long-term planning of skill priorities in strategic industries
• state leverage through the levy-grant funding scheme, and
• social protection for vulnerable groups.

6.4.3 The Skills Development Strategy makes the point that while responsiveness to demand must characterise a new human resource development strategy, skills development cannot be driven solely by short-term, market-led imperatives. Medium-term planning is required to meet the higher-level skill demands of the future.

6.4.4 All these factors suggest that while training systems are becoming more responsive to industry's immediate skills needs, it is important to maintain and develop supply-side capacity which addresses medium- to long-term skill needs. The role of the state is critical here. 

6.4.5 In short, an effective enterprise-based industrial training system is likely to emerge as a result of the responsiveness of FET to market demand, on the one hand, and state co-ordination of supply-side provision, on the other.

What this chapter means in practice

FET will be a major force in helping to democratise South Africa.

Strong links will be established between education, training and work. FET will be designed to assist South Africa to compete successfully in the global economy.

All education and training sectors will be affected.

FET provision will be diverse. It will be responsive to local economic and social needs. It will also help lay the foundation for lifelong learning and access to HE and high skill jobs. 

CHAPTER THREE

A new framework for FET

This chapter introduces the key features of a new FET policy framework geared for the 21ST century. The Green Paper proposes a future FET system based on:

• co-operation and partnerships
• co-ordination and strategic planning
• flexibility and responsiveness
• articulation
• institutional diversity, and
• quality of provision.

The chapter concludes by summarising the key implications of this new framework for curriculum and qualifications, governance, legislation, institutional and staff development, and funding and implementation. These implications will be further elaborated in the chapters which follow. 

1. The central pillars of a new policy framework for FET

1.1 Co-operation and partnerships

The concepts `co-operation' and `partnership' signify at least three important elements of the new FET system. These are, first, the introduction of a new FET system based on co-operative governance within government, and partnership between government and other key stakeholders. Second, they entail the development of a system which seeks to balance the roles of the market and of governmental initiative, co-ordination and stimulus. And third, they involve an acceptance of the importance of inter-departmental co-operation, based on complementarity between the Skills Development Strategy of the DoL and the new FET framework proposed by the Ministry of Education in this Green Paper.

[ Top ]

1.1.1 Co-operative governance

South Africa's democratic Constitution (Act 108 of 1996) defines `co-operative government' as a necessary relationship primarily between national, provincial and local spheres of government and between different government departments and agencies. The Constitution calls on these spheres of government to:

• provide effective, transparent and accountable administration
• support, inform and consult with each other, and
• co-ordinate their actions and legislation with one another and provide for appropriate mechanisms and procedures to attain these objectives.

Education White Paper 3: A Programme for the Transformation of Higher Education added a further dimension to the concept of co-operative governance. In this White Paper, the Ministry outlined a model of governance for HE which was based on the principle of autonomous HE institutions working co-operatively with a proactive government and within a framework of partnerships. Within the HE framework, co-operative governance:

...assumes a proactive, guiding and constructive role for government. It also assumes the active participation by civil society constituencies which acknowledge their different interests, maintain separate identities, and recognise their mutual interdependence and responsibilities for attaining a common goal.

The Ministry intends to extend this governance framework to the FET system. Co-operative governance is a critical aspect of the new framework for FET, in particular because of the importance of co-operation between the Department of Education (DoE) and the DoL, between government and the social partners, and between the providers of FET and their clients and stakeholders. 

1.1.2 Balancing market and state

Distortions and inequalities in FET provision, and the need to implement a national strategy to develop a FET system which is responsive to socio-economic demands and geared to the development of a globally competitive skills base, require both the efforts of the state and the operations of the market, to steer the system. The state must play a leading role in the provision of a high quality public school and college system which is relevant and responsive to current social and economic needs. The state must also transform the education and training system to take into account the country's medium- to long-term socio-economic needs.

Individuals, communities and companies, through their role in the market, have a critical role to play in encouraging greater flexibility and responsiveness of provision, in driving quality upwards, and in promoting efficiency and effectiveness.

International experience suggests that the state can best support and promote system change by setting clear goals and objectives and by providing an effective enabling environment for the functioning of the system. Government policy can be given effect through effective monitoring, the dissemination of information, and the employment of effective `steering' mechanisms.

1.1.3 The complementarity of inter-departmental strategies

The DoL's 1997 Green Paper, A Skills Development Strategy, together with the Skills Development Bill which is to be presented to Parliament, share many of the central propositions of this Green Paper on FET. Complementarity between the two strategies rests on:

• a common allegiance to the government's policy of an integrated approach to education and training and its commitment to lifelong learning
• overlapping interests in the role and effectiveness of enterprise-based training and technical college provision. Both departments share an interest in the development of `learnerships' as a replacement for the near-obsolete system of apprenticeships
• a shared view of the role of the state and market in the provision of education and training in the FET band. The DoE is located primarily on the supply-side, ensuring the production of suitably skilled persons for the national economy in the medium- to long-term. The DoL is concerned with issues primarily on the demand-side, the most important of which is identifying and meeting the skill demands of the market in the short-term, and more strategically, in the medium- to long-term. 

1.1.4 Partnerships between FET institutions and with employers

Co-operative relationships are critical at the institutional level, between FET providers, and between FET institutions and civil society and employer organisations. Partnerships between the providers of FET and `clients' of the system - in particular, communities and employers - are key to the provision of relevant, responsive FET programmes. Partnerships will need to inform the mission and strategic plan of FET institutions, help shape the programme mix, and influence the design and delivery of FET programmes. In addition, partnerships will be key to mobilising the human, physical and financial resources needed for the revitalisation of the FET system.

1.2 Co-ordination and strategic planning

1.2.1 Currently FET does not constitute a `system'. It does not effectively meet national needs. A new co-ordinated system needs to draw its strength from a national vision, committed national leadership, an established enabling environment which rewards innovation and change, and the understanding, commitment and support of its clients and constituents.

1.2.2 The diversity of learners and providers within FET demands a flexible, institution-driven approach to co-ordination. Regional and local social and economic differences, the needs of particular communities, limited management capacity in the FET system, and a lack of management information systems and labour market information, caution against attempting `hands on' control from the centre.

1.2.3 The Constitution moreover provides for a division of responsibility between the national and provincial authorities, with respect to the control of education other than HE. The allocation of functions between Ministries - in particular, the responsibilities of the Ministers of Education and Labour for education and training respectively - likewise impacts on co-ordination arrangements.

1.2.4 At the same time, the transformation of the system calls for the implementation of an over-arching national FET strategy. Such a strategy must direct the development of the FET system towards broad national goals and objectives, ensure the best use of scarce resources, promote efficiency and effectiveness, and drive up quality.

1.2.5 The key to co-ordination is the adoption of a model of strategic planning across the FET band. Co-ordination does not mean centralised control, but the creation of an enabling policy and planning environment, and the use of steering and regulatory mechanisms to encourage greater coherence, responsiveness and accountability in the provision of FET. Co-ordination is underpinned by target setting and the determination of system goals at the national and provincial levels, and by institutional strategic planning. Five important aspects of strategic planning can be identified: 

• the setting of national, provincial and institutional goals and objectives for FET
• the establishment of a system of financial and other incentives to steer the system
• the establishment of a regulatory framework
• the use of performance indicators, management information systems and labour market information, and
• institutional-level strategic planning.

  [ Top ]

1.3 Flexibility and responsiveness

1.3.1 FET is located at the crossroads between GET and work and HE. It includes a substantial part of the national training effort, and plays a critical role in skills formation and in improving the skills base of the country.

1.3.2 Flexibility and responsiveness of provision, in accordance with the varying needs and demands of learners, communities and employers, are of critical importance, especially for those learners who have exited formal schooling and are either in employment or unemployed.

1.3.3 The levels and range of education and training programmes funded through the FET system, together with programme content and modes of delivery, need to be far more closely linked to the requirements of the people who are currently employed and who seek retraining, up-skilling or further education. Additionally, FET programmes need to be more responsive to the large numbers of unemployed for whom entrepreneurial and other skills, retraining opportunities and further education constitute critically important avenues away from the cycles of poverty and deprivation.

1.3.4 This heightened demand for flexibility and responsiveness carries the following implications for FET:

• a shift from rigid bureaucratic planning and management to an approach which more effectively balances efficient state co-ordination with market responsiveness
• state steering, rather than state control, which encourages and rewards innovation and quality
• the structuring of effective linkages and partnerships between FET providers, employers and communities
• local and regional responsiveness to labour market conditions, within the framework of national policy, goals and objectives 
• the provision of a more diverse and high-quality range of learning programmes to meet the needs of a wider range of clients than is currently the case, and
• programme-based funding, which is demand sensitive, and which supports the development of new priority programmes in accordance with the medium to long-term needs of the economy and society.

1.4 Enhanced articulation

1.4.1 At present, most learners enter FET from GET on their way to HE or work. In future, increasing numbers will retrace their steps, turning from employment or unemployment to the FET system to provide retraining, `second-chance' opportunities, personal development, community and leisure courses and so on. Likewise, it will become increasingly common for HE students and graduates to turn to FET as a means of changing career direction or acquiring career-orientation training and to meet a range of community and personal needs.

1.4.2 The concept of a FET system at the crossroads between GET, HE, work, and community and personal life will become increasingly central to the achievement of lifelong learning and the development of a learning society.

1.4.3 This means that the effective articulation of the needs and concerns of workers, employers, the unemployed, communities and individuals, is a basic requirement of an effective FET band. It means, also, that the boundaries between FET and HE, and to a lesser extent with GET, will become increasingly permeable, and the relationships between all three sub-systems increasingly inter-dependent.

1.4.4 Enhanced articulation and the provision of lifelong learning opportunities across these traditionally rigid boundaries have become a pressing priority in the FET band. The relaxation of previously rigid boundaries is now being made possible through the NQF and its key principles of learner progression, portability and recognition of prior learning. These principles must become integral to the FET band, to reflect its critical location at the intersection of schooling, HE and work, and to ensure that FET serves the purposes of lifelong learning and not of institutional gate keeping.

1.5 Institutional diversity

1.5.1 The varied demands on the FET system call for diversity in provision. The question of diversity has been posed most sharply in respect of the future of publicly-funded colleges, the majority of which are presently established as technical colleges. Diversity in the college sector may imply a movement towards both specialised institutions, focused towards a single industry or technology, or comprehensive institutions, such as community colleges, which address diverse needs through the range of programmes they are able to  offer. Neither approach excludes the other and a future FET system is likely to include both specialist and comprehensive institutions.

1.5.2 This Green Paper supports the development of a college system which recognises diversity, concentrates scarce resources for maximum cost-effectiveness and impact, ensures within an appropriate institutional framework efficient and effective provision for specialist as well as GET, and responds meaningfully to the varied needs of individuals and communities.

1.5.3 Determining the appropriate institutional arrangements for ensuring diversity of provision is best effected at the local level. This means, in the first instance, that the governing body of each FET college must decide on the institutional model and form which is best suited to the fulfilment of the institution's mission and the achievement of its strategic plans.

1.5.4 In determining the institutional mission and in addressing the issues of institutional form and of strategic planning, the Ministry believes that governing bodies will respond constructively to the challenges of transformation.

1.5.5 This Green Paper proposes the recognition of only two types of FET college - publicly-funded FET colleges and privately-funded FET colleges.

1.5.6 The role of provincial and national authorities will be to steer the development of the system towards the achievement of national goals and to ensure, at the systems level, sufficient and adequate access to a high quality, efficient and effective provision of FET. This includes ensuring the transformation of the FET system in accordance with the values and the education and training priorities of our new society, and encouraging inter-institutional co-operation and ensuring institutional restructuring where appropriate.

1.5.7 Diversity of provisioning does not mean that under-utilised and inefficient public institutions can be tolerated. In the initial phases of transformation, in particular, government will need to intervene proactively to bring about the necessary restructuring of college provision.

1.5.8 Provincial and national authorities will exercise their roles through their powers of review, the use of funding and other steering mechanisms, and the development of the regulatory framework. In addition, after due consultation with the institutions concerned, and with the advice of the National and Provincial Boards for FET (see point 2.3.2), the Member of the Executive Council (MEC) for Education in the provinces will be enabled to close, merge or establish public FET colleges where this is in the interests of the institutions concerned or in the public interest.

1.5.9 The implications of `diversity' for the new framework, therefore, are the following:

• local initiative in determining appropriate forms of provision, including institutional forms
• the encouragement of partnerships and consortia, `clustering' arrangements and, where appropriate, institutional restructuring or merger
• powers of oversight and review, at the provincial and national levels, to ensure the relevance, efficiency and effectiveness of provision, and
• powers of government to intervene where necessary to restructure and rationalise provision.

1.6 Quality of provision

1.6.1 Quality management and quality assurance are important dimensions of the new FET framework.

1.6.2 Quality management is concerned with the attainment of appropriate resource mixes, curricula and assessment practices, governance mechanisms, and management, educator and learner performance. Quality management is the responsibility of all role players, from the national and provincial levels, through regional, sub-regional, local and institutional management and governance structures, to educators and learners. It is their collective responsibility to ensure learner mobility, promote national goals and objectives and provide good quality outcomes.

1.6.3 Quality assurance, on the other hand, is concerned with reporting on the performance of learners and the system, and includes for this purpose a dynamic, competent and high quality evaluation corps, and appropriate evaluation methods such as assessment instruments, quality indicators, the systemic evaluation of learning at key transition points, in selected subjects or instructional offerings, and policy impact evaluations.

1.6.4 Measures to promote continuous quality improvement and to assure quality will be integral to the development of an effective and enabling regulatory framework for FET.

[ Top ]

2. The key implications of this new framework

The new framework for FET, as outlined above, has profound implications for the system, particularly as regards curriculum, funding, governance, institutional and staff development, and implementation. Each of these areas will be briefly addressed. More detailed discussion and specific recommendations will be presented in the ensuing chapters. 

2.1 A new curriculum and qualifications framework:
responsive linkages between FET, HE and work

2.1.1 A new curriculum and qualifications framework is proposed. This will require a profound shift away from the traditional divides between academic and applied learning, theory and practice, knowledge and skills, and head and hand. It will be based on an integrated approach to education and training and will be programmes-driven. This will provide a framework that is responsive to new social and economic demands, that enhances a common citizenship and that provides opportunities for further learning and learner progression. The new learning programmes will be underpinned by the twelve critical and developmental outcomes defined by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) in 1996. These aim to encourage problem-solving skills, critical and creative thinking, working in teams, communicating effectively, making use of science and technology and responsible citizenship.

2.1.2 The new qualification structure will be based on a flexible combination of fundamental, core and elective learning components. The aim is to develop qualifications that have sufficient breadth (through the development of high levels of mathematical and communicative literacy) and depth (via the offering of a much wider range of core and elective credits) to equip learners to function more effectively in the work context, in HE, and as lifelong learners.

2.1.3 In the short-term, the Ministry will encourage partnerships between FET institutions, private sector organisations and other government departments and agencies which seek to experiment with and pilot innovative approaches to the new qualifications structure for FET. Senior secondary schools and colleges, for example, can begin to expand the elective choices available to Grade 10-12 learners by opening up college facilities and expertise to learners at school, and vice-versa.

2.1.4 In the short- to medium-term, the DoE will undertake the larger task of redesigning and integrating existing instructional offerings in senior secondary schools and technical colleges. At present, these subjects and instructional offerings are offered separately, so perpetuating the divide between general formative education and career preparation. Many of these subjects and instructional offerings have not kept up with developments in knowledge and are inappropriate to the challenges of the 21ST century.

2.2 Programme-based funding

2.2.1 The deficiencies in existing funding arrangements and the scale and complexity of the challenges facing FET require the development of a completely new funding framework. Key principles of the proposed funding framework, which for the time being will be limited to FET colleges but in the longer-term will be considered for schools, include the following: 

• enabling education departments to fulfil their constitutional obligation to make further education progressively available and accessible
• making use of management information systems as a basis for arriving at strategic decisions regarding funding of particular programmes and institutions
• providing for individual and institutional redress
• maximising all available resources through cost-sharing, and income generation by providers
• basing funding on learning programmes
• ensuring funding coherence, so that the same level of funding applies to the same programme wherever it is offered
• incorporating a performance-linked element in funding
• emphasising the demand-side rather than the supply-side in funding, in order to re-orient providers to the market and the needs of the learners, and
• providing for stability of public funding.

2.2.2 The new funding approach will have three main components. It will include: formula funding for recurrent costs, based on full-time equivalent students in approved programmes leading to qualifications or parts thereof; earmarked funding for specific national policy objectives; and user fees related to the ability to pay.

2.2.3 Additional elements will include an `output-incentive' based on student achievement of credits or qualifications, and support for learners with special learning needs.

2.2.4 Funding contracts based on agreed targets will be developed for FET providers which are in receipt of state funds.

2.2.5 Implementation of the new funding framework will involve: consultation with stakeholders; capacity building in public FET providers; phased introduction of the new system on an institution-by-institution basis; and the delegation of budgets in accordance with proven institutional capacity. In order for the new funding system to work, management capacity and adequate information systems must be developed at all levels. In addition, all existing and new programmes to be funded by government will need to be clearly defined, in line with the requirements of the NQF.

2.3 A new governance structure, legislation and institutional and staff development

2.3.1 The Ministry acknowledges the difficulty of constructing a new governance model and legal framework for FET, given the constitutional provisions regarding national and provincial competencies with respect to FET and the division of responsibility for education and training between the Ministers of Education and Labour. The present situation does not provide an ideal environment for forging a coherent, integrated FET system. At the same time, greater coherence and strategic direction of the system are essential to meeting the social and economic challenges we confront. The Green Paper accordingly seeks to define a realistic strategy for transformation, within existing constitutional and political constraints. In the Green Paper, the Ministry argues for a complementarity of strategies between the DoE and the DoL and between the national and provincial education authorities. Within such an arrangement, each government agency will have a distinctive role to play.

2.3.2 The new governance framework will be developed in accordance with the provisions of the National Education Policy Act (Act 27 of 1996), and through the passage of a new Further Education and Training Act. These actions will introduce three important changes:

• the establishment of a National Board for FET (NBFET) (see ch.6, point 3.1.4)
• the establishment of Provincial Boards for FET. These could come into being simultaneously with the NBFET, or at a later date (see ch.6, point 3.2.3), and
• the recognition of two types of FET colleges, viz., public and private. The National FET Act will also specify the terms and conditions under which publicly-funded colleges can move progressively towards the assumption of greater governance and management responsibilities. It will provide for the registration of and a quality assurance framework for privately-funded colleges, including those providing distance education. It will therefore repeal and incorporate, as appropriate, aspects of the Correspondence Colleges Act (Act 59 of 1965). Full consultation will be undertaken in the course of developing the new law.

2.3.3 These legal and governance reforms will provide for greater co-ordination at a national and provincial level. In addition, by progressively transferring greater governance and management responsibilities to all publicly-funded colleges, the National FET Act will enable all colleges to define their own distinctive mission and relationship to the local and provincial economy and society. In so doing, responsiveness and effectiveness will be greatly enhanced. 

2.3.4 As institutions acquire greater autonomy, they will be incorporated within the new strategic planning and governance frameworks. Institutions will need to develop clear institutional goals, expressed in mission statements, and elaborated in institutional plans. Curricula will need to be expressed as programmes which address specific societal and economic needs and are aligned to the NQF. In the short-term, funding for FET colleges will be programmes-driven. In the longer-term, programme-based funding may be extended to the senior secondary schools. In sum, the new governance model will require of the FET system as a whole a greater degree of strategic planning, coherence and sense of purpose than has been the case previously.

2.3.5 The implementation of these changes will require significant leadership capacity, management information systems, and strategic planning. The DoE will aid the development of these capabilities through the establishment of Task Teams on Management Capacity Development and Management Information Systems.

2.4 Institutional and staff development

2.4.1 The introduction of a new FET system, with new strategic planning and programme-based funding processes, requires responsive, well-managed, high quality institutions. Without this, the new system will fail. For this reason, the Green Paper accepts that institutional and staff development are integral to the establishment of a co-ordinated system.

[ Top ]

2.4.2 Many FET institutions are constrained by a poor work ethic and a poor public image. Change in organisational practices and cultures, to encourage responsiveness and accountability, teamwork and the promotion of an appropriate learning environment and ethos, will be essential.

2.4.3 Apartheid distorted the historical allocation of resources in the FET band. The Ministry is confronted however with the reality that limited resources are available to remedy past injustices and the consequences of apartheid planning. Resource-sharing, building inter-institutional linkages through the establishment of partnerships and consortia, and the reorganisation of the institutional landscape through clustering arrangements, mergers and other means are in this context essential to the goals of equity and redress and to the achievement of the FET system that the country needs.

2.5 A strategy for implementation

2.5.1 Transformation of FET will not take place overnight. The challenges are substantial and resources limited.

2.5.2 As indicated above, the key to the strategic development of a vibrant, responsive FET system is the adoption of strategic planning and co-ordination. To implement such a strategy, it is important, first, to match the capacity of government and the FET system to the roles assigned to them; and, second, to begin to build capacity at the system and institutional levels.

2.5.3 The Ministry recognises that the introduction of a new planning, regulatory and funding framework must occur in a responsible manner, bearing in mind the limited institutional and systemic capacities and the resource constraints that characterise the present state of development. This implies that implementation of a co-ordinated approach to the transformation of FET will need to take place in phases, as the necessary mechanisms and processes are put in place, and as the necessary capacity is developed.

2.5.4 The Ministry will show flexibility in the way in which it introduces a co-ordinated national system. The Ministry envisages that the introduction of the new system will take place over a period of time. The concluding chapter will spell out the details of this approach.

What this chapter means in practice

There will be major changes in the FET system to respond to the challenges of meeting basic needs and increasing global competitiveness. The new system will be based on the principles of co-operation and partnerships, co-ordination and planning, flexibility and responsiveness, diversity and quality. These changes will involve new curricula combinations, new learning pathways, greater institutional autonomy, the establishment of a National Board for FET, staff development, quality improvement and quality assurance, a programmes-driven funding framework and a phased implementation plan.

CHAPTER FOUR

Qualifications, learning programmes, curriculum and quality assurance

This chapter addresses the diverse needs of learners and the different contexts of learning. The work of SAQA in developing the NQF forms the basis upon which the curriculum, programmes and qualifications for FET will be built. The framework accords with the recommendation of the NCFE that learning programmes should span a continuum from GET, through vocational education, to community and personal development programmes. The new framework is designed to meet the needs of those who have already passed through the current system or will do so in the next five to six years, as well as those who will enter FET after Curriculum 2005 is fully implemented.

1. Introduction - the agenda

1.1 The key to the successful integration of education and training lies within the FET band. The developmental task for FET is to design, implement, monitor and continuously improve an integrated approach to learning, in school and out of school, in FET colleges, in the workplace, in other institutions of learning, and in private study.

1.2 Global changes in the industrial and service sectors of the economy place a premium on knowledge and skills, and give rise to the concept of the `knowledge society'. The rise of the knowledge society leads to the requirement that all learning programmes and qualifications incorporate underpinning knowledge, skills and values that are transferable to different work and learning contexts.

1.3 This approach will require a shift away from the traditional divides between academic and applied learning, theory and practice, knowledge and skills, and head and hand. It will require a move away from programmes which are narrowly defined in terms of `education' and `training', towards a new and balanced curriculum which will provide flexible access to further and lifelong learning, to HE, and to productive employment in a range of occupational contexts.

1.4 The requirements of redress, and the goals of lifelong learning, nation-building, and the nurturing of a responsible citizenship grounded in democratic values, will place their own demands upon the curriculum and qualifications structure of a new FET system. A new emphasis will be placed on access, flexibility, the provision of counselling and advisory services, the recognition of prior learning and experience, remediation, quality learning resources and materials, job readiness, articulation, and common standards and transferability of credits.

1.5 The Report of the Ministerial Committee for Development Work on the NQF, Lifelong Learning through a National Qualifications Framework (February 1996), coupled with wide-ranging consultations undertaken by the DoE, has led to the identification and adoption of seven critical outcomes and five lifelong learning developmental outcomes as the basis for the development of learning programmes, curricula and qualifications.

1.6 As defined by SAQA, learning outcomes are the contextually demonstrated end-products of the learning process. Outcomes include knowledge, skills and values that are recognised to be critical to the future success of learners and of our society in the 21ST Century. The Ministry believes that these learning outcomes are relevant throughout life, not simply in employment and further learning. Accordingly, the Ministry believes that it is these learning outcomes which should form the basis for the development of the curriculum, learning programmes and qualifications frameworks for FET.

1.7 The critical and developmental outcomes are depicted in the following diagram:

[ Top ]

1.8 SAQA has identified 12 organising fields within the NQF. These organising fields are based on the integration of fundamental disciplines and areas of study, and on the identification of key occupational clusters. The Ministry recognises these 12 organising fields as the basis for the development of curricula, learning programmes, unit standards and qualifications for FET. The 12 fields are set out below.

1. Agriculture and Nature Conservation
2. Culture and Arts
3. Business, Commerce and Management Studies
4. Communication Studies and Language
5. Education, Training and Development
6. Manufacturing, Engineering and Technology
7. Human and Social Studies
8. Law, Military Science and Security
9. Health Sciences and Social Services
10. Physical, Mathematical, Computer and Life Sciences
11. Services
12. Physical Planning and Construction

1.9 Through the introduction of the new curriculum framework, the Ministry seeks to set the agenda for the medium-term transformation of the existing system. However, the Ministry is also acutely aware of, and deeply concerned about the large numbers of young learners who will exit FET before this transformation is complete. Most will have only general qualifications, such as a Senior Certificate, and will join hundreds of thousands of others in the labour market with similar or no qualifications, and with little hope of productive employment, self-employment or further and higher learning. To meet the needs of these learners, the Ministry will undertake a number of `rehabilitation' initiatives, focusing on academic remediation and the development of job-entry and entrepreneurial skills. The Ministry will link the National Youth Colleges Programme to the learnerships proposed by the Ministry of Labour, so that young adult learners can undergo meaningful learning programmes and obtain useful qualifications. Other "crash" programmes and services will be initiated in conjunction with the Ministry of Labour. These will be addressed further in Section 5 of this chapter.

1.10 The DoE has already begun a review of existing learning programmes, curricula and qualifications. The changes that will be implemented following this review will be aimed at ensuring that, prior to the full-scale implementation of Curriculum 2005, learners who exit the FET system at Level 4 on the NQF, with a Senior Certificate or a National Senior Certificate, will be better equipped to access higher learning and to enter productive employment or self- employment. 

1.11 The agenda outlined here has important implications for qualifications, learning programmes and curricula, and points to the following imperatives:

• to mobilise all human talent and potential, through lifelong learning, as a means of fostering individual growth and development and of contributing to the social, economic, cultural and intellectual life of a rapidly changing society
• to train and provide the human resources to build and strengthen our country's enterprises, service sectors, the public sector, communities, families and infrastructure. This requires the development of responsible, committed citizens, with globally competitive skills, to contribute to national development and social transformation
• to facilitate continuous improvement, innovation and maintenance of our technologies in order to strengthen national growth and competitiveness, and
• to pursue the vision of accessible, flexible, responsive, equitable and self-actualising learning, as a means of building a democratic, just, and progressive society and of providing opportunities and improved life chances for the disadvantaged and vulnerable.

It is these imperatives which must foreground the development of qualifications, learning programmes and curricula.

2. The breadth and depth of learning programmes and qualifications

2.1 The present system of FET qualifications and programmes offered by schools, colleges, industry and private providers does not prepare learners adequately for success in further learning and for productive employment. FET programmes provided by schools are too constrained by narrow educational concerns and too general, offering little or no specialisation. On the other hand, programmes offered by the present technical colleges are too narrow and specialised, and do not equip learners adequately for the social, economic and cultural changes they will face in the course of their lives.

2.2 The Ministry supports the view of SAQA that a qualification shall:

• represent a planned combination of learning outcomes which has a defined purpose or purposes, and which is intended to provide qualifying learners with applied competence and a basis for further learning
• add significant value to the qualifying learner in terms of the enrichment of the person, the provision of status, recognition, credentials and licensing, the enhancement of marketability and employability, and the opening-up of access routes to additional education and training 
• provide benefits to society through enhancing citizenship, increasing social and economic productivity, providing specifically skilled/professional people, and transforming and redressing legacies of inequity
• comply with the objectives of the NQF including the enhancement of learner access, mobility and progression, and the provision of quality education and training
• have both specific and critical cross-field outcomes which promote lifelong learning, and
• be internationally comparable, where appropriate.

2.3 FET must offer a diversity of learning programmes and qualifications. Learners who choose to specialise early may do so with the understanding that specialisation is neither too narrow, nor deficient with respect to underpinning knowledge and values. Learners who choose to specialise later may take longer to attain a qualification that holds currency. The key external test to be applied to all qualifications is whether they articulate with further and higher learning, and with work.

2.4 These concerns lead the Ministry to believe that the current provision of learning programmes and qualifications, and the rigid identification of certain types of programmes and qualifications with particular institutions, is inappropriate and must change. Learners must be given access to a wide range of learning programmes through the development of institutional partnerships and linkages. Distance education and resource-based learning have a crucial role to play here.

3. SAQA requirements on breadth and depth of qualifications

SAQA has defined a qualification as comprising three components, viz., fundamental, core and elective learning. These can be illustrated as follows: 

3.1 Fundamental learning

3.1.1 SAQA has determined that, by the year 2002, all qualifications offered at Levels 2 to 4 on the NQF must include a minimum of 16 credits in Mathematical Literacy, as part of the fundamental learning component.

3.1.2 The Ministry supports this position, as a reflection of the importance of mathematical literacy, and of science and technology, in all modern societies.

3.1.3 However, learning programmes and qualifications that are currently provided within the FET band, do not include a compulsory Mathematical Literacy requirement. Mathematical Literacy deals with qualitative and quantitative relationships of space and time. The Ministry will therefore review and upgrade the mathematical literacy components of existing learning programmes and subjects offered in schools and technical colleges, in order to fulfil the SAQA requirement. Learning programmes and subjects to be reviewed will include Economics, Business Economics, Home Economics, Accountancy, Physical Sciences, Biology, Geography, Technical Drawing, and Engineering and Business Studies. The training and supply of appropriately qualified teachers will also be addressed.

3.1.4 The SAQA requirement of a minimum of 20 credits (out of a maximum of 72 credits) in Communication Studies and Language, as part of fundamental learning, is welcomed by the Ministry. Language, literacy and communication are intrinsic to human development and central to lifelong learning. Language and communication empower human beings to make and negotiate meaning, access knowledge and information, express their thoughts and emotions logically, critically and creatively, respond to others, and participate in the social, political, economic, cultural and spiritual life of society. In addition, multi-lingualism affords learners the opportunity both to develop their own language and culture and to share in the language and culture of others. This is increasingly important in a multi-cultural and multi-lingual society such as ours, and in an increasingly inter-dependent, multi-cultural world.

[ Top ]

3.2 Core learning

3.2.1 Core learning involves learning experiences in situations contextually relevant to the particular qualification. For example, in the field of Business, Commerce and Management Studies, the principles of business planning and practice, and organisational and human resource development would be included as part of core learning. Practical applications might include researching and developing a business plan for a small business or designing a training plan or a benefits package for a simulated or real group of employees.

3.3 Elective learning

3.3.1 Elective learning entails a selection of specialised, additional credits to ensure that the purposes of the qualification are achieved. Elective learning includes learning programmes that provide for a range of possible career and occupational directions. For example, a specialisation in marketing might be added to the core program of a student pursuing business administration.

3.3.2 Relatedly, elective learning may include learning programmes outside of the core that provide an understanding of alternative career and occupational opportunities. Thus, a Business Studies student might take a credit in economic history, or in contemporary political issues or an introductory learning programme in industry-related environmental concerns. Such elective learning programmes provide the learner with an expanded scope of possibilities and deeper understanding with respect to a field of interest.

3.3.3 The offering of work-related experience, as required in modern learnerships, should be accommodated within the elective learning component of learning programmes and qualifications. Work-based credits will help to smooth the transition from school or college to work. Both the structured learning and work components of learnerships will need to be registered on the NQF. 

Proposals for FET qualifications

This diagram has been adapted from that of SAQA

4. Career guidance and support services

4.1 Assisting learners to make informed career choices, and informed choices with respect to their elective learning, is a critical aspect of service in the FET band. Career guidance and support services must provide information on learning programmes, providers, qualifications and jobs. A comprehensive and up-to-date database of relevant information must be developed.

4.2 Labour market information, indicating skills shortages, career opportunities, and trends in the job market, is essential. Access to such information could be facilitated through a range of career guidance services offered within or outside of the school or college.

4.3 Other support services, including guidance, counselling, health and welfare services, as well as access to learning resource centres and psychological services, should in principle be available to all learners. Special provision should be made for learners with special education needs. These services and facilities need to be made progressively available.

5. The structure of learning programmes and qualifications

5.1 It will be in the combinations of fundamental, core and elective learning, and therefore in the structure of qualifications and learning programmes, that the question of the breadth and depth of learning programmes will be resolved.

5.2 A more flexible and less restrictive approach is needed to the constitution of learning programmes and qualifications. Learner choice should only be limited by the need for coherence, adequate depth of learning, and the requirements of further and higher learning, and work. To achieve this balance, the fundamental learning component of a qualification will need to be closely regulated, with greater flexibility allowed with respect to core and elective learning.

5.3 This flexible approach, with the proviso noted above, will require the establishment of partnerships between and among schools, FET colleges, industry-based training programmes, providers of social and developmental training programmes and providers of training programmes for small, medium and micro enterprises.

5.4 An initiative directed at enhancing the relevance of FET programmes to work and self-employment would be an important contribution to economic, social, urban and rural renewal and development. Such an initiative could benefit by being located within the rural and urban development projects of ESKOM, TELKOM, the DoL, the Departments of Public Works, Water Affairs and Forestry, Transport, Public Service and Administration, the local government programmes of the Departments of Constitutional Development and Trade and Industry and the Ntsika Enterprises Promotion Agency, industry training boards and their successor bodies, and social developmental projects of religious organisations, local communities and non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

6. HE learning programmes and qualifications offered by FET colleges

6.1 The White Paper on Higher Education specifies that programmes and qualifications which fall within the HE band should be offered within the framework of programme accreditation, institutional auditing and quality promotion laid down by the Council on Higher Education (CHE), through its Higher Education Quality Committee (HEQC). Accordingly, HE programmes and qualifications offered by FET colleges will need to comply with the requirements and regulations of the CHE. The Ministry will where necessary ensure the amendment of legislation relating to technical colleges, to bring the provision of HE programmes by FET institutions in line with the requirements of the White Paper on Higher Education and the Higher Education Act, (Act 101 of 1997).

6.2 The Ministry believes that the core business of FET colleges should be the offering of intermediate to high level skills programmes within the FET band. FET colleges that offer programmes and qualifications which fall within the HE band may continue to do so, on an interim basis, until the CHE, in consultation with the NBFET, has put in place an appropriate policy framework, and developed procedures, for regulating this matter. The Ministry will request the CHE to undertake a review of the HE learning programmes and qualifications offered by FET institutions, with a view to making a decision whether to terminate, re-orient to the FET band or bring them fully within the framework and development trajectory of HE.

6.3 HE programmes and qualifications offered by FET colleges will have greater currency and be more appropriate when they are based upon institutional partnerships such as franchise agreements, joint delivery of learning programmes and qualifications, and articulation and transfer agreements. 

6.4 It is the view of the Ministry that the need to open up career paths and to afford access to HE and training, while holding capital and other costs in check, far outweighs the traditional territorial interests of institutions. The pressing need to expand HE opportunities for graduates of FET offsets the charge of "mission drift" that is sometimes made against FET colleges. In short, current preconceptions regarding institutional roles must be critically re-examined, and new relationships must be created between FET and HE providers which will meet the needs our people. The Ministry, accordingly, will initiate a review of existing FET institutions, programmes and capacity, with a view to ensuring the optimal utilisation of, in the first instance, the country's FET colleges.

6.5 HE institutions have the experience and skills that could assist FET institutions to meet the challenge of providing adequate and appropriate FET programmes and opportunities.

6.6 The CHE will advise the Minister on the development and planning of HE. That advice should include due consideration of the role of FET colleges.

[ Top ]

7. Distance education and resource-based learning

7.1 Flexible, open learning programmes, through distance education and resource-based learning, should be fully utilised and expanded, as a significant means of broadening access to FET.

7.2 Improving the quality of distance education and resource-based learning will make it easier for learners to access FET and to succeed. Open learning approaches allow for multiple entry and exit points and the use of different sites of learning. They allow the learner to determine the pace and place of learning using a variety of media and of learning and teaching approaches.

7.3 Over time, it is desirable that schools be encouraged to enable learners to access learning programmes through self-study or within other learning institutions and provide the necessary learner support. Schools will be encouraged to enter into formal partnerships with FET colleges, industry training boards and their successor bodies and private providers of contact and distance education.

7.4 Distance education and resource-based learning are particularly appropriate for employed learners. Many of these learners will possess prior learning and experience, and distance education and resource-based providers are ideally placed to pioneer the recognition of prior learning and experience in order to increase access to FET.

7.5 Distance education should not be seen as a second-best option. Instead, quality and effectiveness should be improved and assured through the application of the frameworks outlined in A Distance Education Quality Standards Framework for South Africa (DoE, December 1996), the Technology Enhanced Learning Investigation in South Africa: A Discussion Document (DoE, July 1996) and the Technology Enhanced Learning Initiative in South Africa: A Strategic Plan (DoE, April-May, 1997).

7.6 Within these frameworks the DoE, in collaboration with provincial Departments of Education, will undertake a review of existing distance institutions such as Technisa.

7.7 The DoE will, together with the Department of Communications and the South African Broadcasting Corporation, conduct a review of existing educational broadcast programmes, and develop a proposal for an educational channel. Meanwhile there is a need to expand existing educational broadcasting services and plan for the establishment of an Open School.

8. Developing qualifications, learning programmes and curricula

8.1 The development of FET qualifications, learning programmes and curricula involves two processes: the development and registration of qualifications and unit standards, and the development of curriculum frameworks, learning programmes and learning materials.

8.2 The development and registration of qualifications and unit standards involves the participation of SAQA-accredited National Standards Bodies (NSBs) and Standards Generating Bodies (SGBs). The latter will develop qualifications and their component unit standards. In line with the integrated approach to education and training, SGBs will comprise stakeholders representing the state, organised business and labour, and social sectoral organisations, all of whom will have a national constituency and interest. Once the adoption of a White Paper on Further Education and Training and the DoL's Skills Development Strategy has taken place, and the supporting legislation passed, the development of unit standards and qualifications will proceed with urgency. The DoE and DoL have an important role in this process.

8.3 The development of curriculum frameworks, learning programmes and materials will follow from this process. Curriculum development committees will undertake this work for the DoE and provincial Education Departments.

8.4 Currently, separate policies on qualifications, curriculum frameworks and learning programmes are in place for public schools and colleges. As described in Section 1, this situation is under review. The Ministry has two objectives in mind: to give effect to the integrated approach to education and training outlined here; and, to develop relevant qualifications, unit standards, learning programmes and curricula consistent with the outcomes-based approach. A Ministerial Task Team on Qualifications, Unit Standards, Learning Programmes and Curriculum has been established to advise on how to achieve these two objectives. (see ch.7, point 3.)

9. A quality assurance system for FET

9.1 Quality assurance is of fundamental importance for the development of a relevant, cost-effective and responsive FET system.

9.2 The primary responsibility for quality assurance rests with FET institutions. International and local experience shows that quality is driven from within organisations and institutions.

9.3 The management of quality is multi-faceted, involving the setting and management of standards with respect to qualifications, learning, teaching and training, assessment, management and leadership, and educational resourcing. An important aspect of the management of quality is continuous improvement - a process that is internalised by the staff and institutionalised through strategic planning and local policy setting.

9.4 Globalisation and the internationalisation of vocations and professions place additional requirements on quality, especially in the areas of qualifications and assessment. South African qualifications should measure up to global standards through the application of benchmarking processes.

9.5 Accordingly, there is an important role for a national FET umbrella authority with responsibility for quality promotion and quality assurance, the accreditation of providers, certification of learners, monitoring of provision, facilitation of moderation and the auditing of providers' quality management systems. Such a body should collaborate with the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) anticipated in the Skills Development Bill, in carrying out quality assurance and quality promotion across the FET system.

9.6 The Ministry believes that a Further Education and Training Quality Assurance Body (FETQA) should be located within the national DoE. Its governing body could be constituted as a committee of the NBFET. The DoE could perform some or all of the functions of the quality assurance body in collaboration with appropriate non-governmental service providers.

9.7 The HEQC will be responsible for the quality assurance function for qualifications and unit standards which fall within the HE band. It has been argued that the FETQA body should undertake the quality assurance function for all learning programmes offered by FET providers, including FET college programmes which fall within the HE band. The Ministry believes however, that the goal of developing a single, co-ordinated HE system, and the interests of learners in the FET band, would best be served by limiting the role of the FET quality assurance body to qualifications and unit standards which fall below and within the FET band - that is, Levels 1-4 on the NQF.

9.8 This approach will facilitate the development of a coherent quality assurance agenda for FET. Further, it will avert the danger of overlapping functions and potentially conflicting approaches by the FETQA and the HEQC.   

[ Top ]

10. Assessment

10.1 Assessment has a direct and at times distorting influence on learning and teaching. The current assessment paradigm, which is based primarily on cognitive learning and which compares one learner with another (referred to by educators as "norm referenced evaluation") is unsuited to the challenges presented by new policies which are aimed at the transformation and integration of education and training. Inconsistencies in assessment lead to concerns about fairness and to perceptions of varying standards and quality across different parts of the FET system. In the new approach, learners will be assessed in relation to the learning outcomes of the unit standards they are to achieve (referred to as "criterion or outcomes referenced evaluation").

10.2 Assessment has two distinct, but related objectives. First, at the macro-level, assessment must provide reliable and valid information regarding learner achievement and competency, to ensure the legitimacy and currency of qualifications with employers and with HE institutions. Traditionally, assessment at the FET level has been distorted by the role of FET qualifications in selection to higher, particularly university education. Second, at the micro-level, assessment must be developmental and formative, to provide guidance to learners through appropriate evaluation and feedback.

10.3 In the current school system, continuous assessment takes place in Grades 10 and 11. This includes mid-year examinations, and examinations at the end of each year. Examination papers are set and scripts marked internally by teachers. Continuous assessment relies largely on the competence and professionalism of the teachers. Assessment in Grade 12 is conducted through external provincial examinations. In these public examinations all learners in a province write the same externally moderated examination paper in each subject. Examination scripts are marked and moderated by a staff comprising a chief examiner, examiners and an external moderator.

10.4 In the case of the technical colleges, all examinations, from N1 through to N6, are set by the national DoE, which administers the examinations on behalf of the provincial departments of education. In some cases, however, the national examinations are marked internally by college staff, using a national marking scheme. The Ministry believes, in the interests of consistency, that the latter approach should apply to all technical college instructional offerings at N2, N4 and N5 levels, until such time as existing technical college programmes are replaced by new curricula, learning programmes, qualifications and assessment policies.

10.5 Under the new outcomes-based approach a student's FET learning programme will consist of a particular set of unit standards. Each unit standard will clearly state the specific outcomes to be assessed and the assessment criteria. Students will know what they are expected to show or demonstrate and how their knowledge and skill will be assessed. Their learning activities will be designed so that they can master the required outcomes to the required assessment standard. The public examination will sample the competencies acquired at the assessment levels indicated in the unit standards. This will be recorded as a performance measure that indicates to both the student and society that the standards have been met and the degree to which they have been met. The negative and stereotypical concept of `failure' will be replaced with the positive notion of progress towards the achievement of standardised outcomes, where the student will be regarded as `in progress' or `partially complete'. Nonetheless, learners will be given credit for those outcomes that they have attained. Common standards and fairness will be ensured through the marking of scripts by the learner's lecturer or teacher, according to a provincial or national marking scheme.

10.6 In the case of schools, assessment measures would have to be improved to provide reliable and valid information and to ensure the appropriate progression of learners. This could include a form of external assessment in support of school-based continuous assessment. This could be done either through an external examination which is marked by teachers according to a common marking scheme, and which is externally moderated, or through an annual national or provincial examination in all or some learning areas.

11. Efficiency, repetition and admission policy

11.1 The Ministry is considering the adoption of a national policy and regulations regarding the number of times learners may repeat grades, subjects, learning programmes and whole qualifications at public cost. This arises in the context of the inefficiency of the FET system as reflected in low retention and high repetition rates in schools and colleges.

11.2 International research has so far failed to demonstrate convincingly the benefits for learners of repeating grades, learning programmes, subjects or whole qualifications. Moreover, the cost of such repeats, especially within the school sector, is extremely high, and the burden that repeaters place on schools contributes to a steady decline in the quality of learning.

11.3 Additionally, the Ministry believes that schools are not the appropriate environment for the successful pursuit of learning by young adults in their early twenties. Colleges can provide more relevant and flexible opportunities, and more appropriate learning environments, for such learners.

What this chapter means in practice

The development of new learning programmes, curricula and qualifications for FET, within the NQF, will be given priority. The emphasis will be on high quality programmes and internationally recognised qualifications which integrate education and training, preparing learners both for work and higher learning. Lifelong learning, with appropriate support services, will be an important goal. The new framework will be based on articulation between programmes, a sound assessment system, and the recognition of prior learning. It will be predicated on the notion that learning outcomes are more important than where learning takes place. To achieve these objectives, the development of new partnerships, together with a programme of institutional and staff development, will be essential.

CHAPTER FIVE

Funding

The way funding is organised and allocated will be a powerful force for achieving the FET system the country needs.
Given the significance of funding as a lever for change, the Ministry of Education has given considerable thought to the design of a new framework for the funding of FET. However, its full realisation will depend upon the contribution of other government departments - notably the DoL - the other social partners (business and labour) and individual households. 

1. Introduction

A funding framework involves the determination of national priorities, objectives, targets and plans. It requires the definition of quality and can promote equity, efficiency gains and value for money, as well as the responsiveness and accountability of providers. It may embody a set of incentives that encourage certain types of responses and discourage others. A well-designed public funding framework can mobilise and optimise complementary private resources.

[ Top ]

2. The present funding system

2.1 The Ministry notes with concern the finding of the NCFE that funding for FET is sub-optimal and, despite some positive features, displays many negative characteristics:

2.1.1 Lack of funding coherence: Different, unconnected funding mechanisms operate in the FET band, at national and provincial levels and across different departments of state. Without an over-arching funding strategy for FET, linked to a clear national policy, the funds available are not used to best effect.

2.1.2 Poor information: Data deficiencies even in the public sectors of schools and colleges are considerable, and there is no universal, reliable, comparable, up-to-date information about private providers. As a result, both financial planning and accountability are weak and the dearth of published information means that learners are unable to make informed choices concerning programmes or providers.

2.1.3 Inadequate and skewed funding: Funding of public sector FET providers has been extremely unequal, with most historically black institutions receiving poor levels of funding. As a result many FET institutions have been unable to function effectively.

Skewed funding is another problem. Funding of the 2.2 million learners in senior secondary schools absorbs 72 per cent of all FET expenditure. There is very little training of the unemployed and highly variable training of and expenditure on the employed.

2.1.4 Low rates of return: Low returns on the considerable investment of public and private resources in FET are cause for serious concern. Pass rates of 50 per cent in school-leaving examinations and the irrelevance of most of the curriculum to work have become the norm. Few training schemes have proved effective in securing jobs or self-employment for the unemployed, while training for the employed has generally failed to impart the generic competences that allow for transferable skills and lifelong learning.

2.1.5 High inefficiency: In many institutions, neither staff nor students put in a full school day. Resources are not used optimally. High repetition rates especially in senior secondary schools result in huge additional throughput inefficiencies. It has been calculated that the system invests 36 learner years of effort to produce one Grade 12 pass.

2.1.6 Weak and perverse incentives: There is only one tax incentive relevant to FET: section 18A of the Tax Act of 1962 provides tax relief for donations to certain educational institutions and funds including schools and colleges. Other forms of incentive, such as state technical assistance for companies who wish to train, are noticeably absent. There is no financial incentive for providers to address the learning needs of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, or those with other special needs.

Funding mechanisms also present no incentive for institutions to increase their efforts to enable students to pass. It is estimated that the cost of the repeats in Grades 10-12 is as much as R1,7bn - 17 per cent of all the funds expended on FET. Conversely, perverse incentives encourage institutions to expand provis