Statement by Education Minister Cameron Dugmore
Western Cape Colleges will begin in earnest next week with the National Vocational Certificate (NVC) programmes entering their second year. The NCV offers renewed opportunity for young people to complete the equivalent of matric and acquire vital skills, which could make them almost immediately employable. The six Western Cape Further Education and Training (FET) colleges will begin on 44 campuses on Monday, 14 January 2008. Early reports indicate that enrolments for 2008 are going well. Some FET college staff reported for duty today (Thursday, 10 January), but most courses will begin on Monday.FET Colleges, previously called technical colleges, offer further education and training in a wide range of vocational subjects. FET colleges now complement FET in Grades 10 to 12, in schools.
Grade 9 learners can now choose to complete FET in schools, in Grades 10 to 12 or in FET colleges through National Certificate Vocational (NCV) programmes. The NCV programmes are equivalent to matric and provide access to higher education.
About 60,000 students registered for courses at FET colleges in the Western Cape last year. College programmes range from short courses over several weeks and months to programmes over a number of years.
The Western Cape's six FET Colleges are well prepared for the 2008 academic year. They are offering 12 new NCV programmes this year on levels 2 and 3 of the National Qualifications Framework.
These are three-year qualifications with formal exit opportunities after each year. In other words, a vocational certificate will be issued for each successfully completed year.
Areas covered by the new programmes include Administration, Finance, Information Technology, Marketing, Management, Building and Civil Construction, Engineering and related design, Electrical Infrastructure Construction, Primary Agriculture, Hospitality, Tourism and Safety in Society.
National Student Financial Aid bursaries are available for prospective students who wish to follow a course of study in any of the aforementioned NCV programmes at a public FET College. IKapa Elihlumayo bursaries are available for other programmes of study at public FET Colleges. Specific criteria are applied for the allocation of the bursaries.
Progammes offered by public FET Colleges are specifically designed to meet the needs of the Western Cape economy and to equip students for employment opportunities.
In recent years, the national and provincial education departments have remodelled the public FET college sector to form a key component of the national education system, to ensure a well-balanced selection of education options.
This has included a major national re-capitalisation programme to ensure that public FET Colleges have the necessary resources and facilities.
The provincial government provided R26 million for student bursaries in 2007 to improve access to FET colleges for learners from disadvantaged backgrounds, as part of the iKapa Elihlumayo strategy.More than 8,000 students have already taken advantage of the opportunity. In addition the national department of education provided an additional R9 million to the Western Cape for an FET Financial Aid Scheme, which is managed by the colleges themselves.
The 44 public FET college campuses in the Western Cape are scattered across the province, from Vredendal on the West Coast to Cape Town in the metropolitan area, Beaufort West in the Karoo to Plettenberg Bay in the Southern Cape.
FET colleges form a key component of the Human Capital Development Strategy of the Western Cape currently being implemented by the WCED. It is hoped to increase the number of students registered at FET colleges.
The 11 National Vocational Certificate (NVC) programmes offer training for careers in the following disciplines:
Enquiries:
Gert Witbooi
Media Liaison Officer
Office of the MEC for Education
Western Cape
Tel: 021 467 2523
Cell: 082 550 3938
Fax: 021 425 5689
Email: gwitbooi@pgwc.gov.za
Visit our website: http://wced.wcape.gov.za
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