Assessment College of South Africa | Always one jump ahead

City & Guilds is pleased to announce the acquisition of Assessment College as part of their continued international expansion. Founded fourteen years ago, Assessment College is one of the largest trainer and assessor training providers in South Africa. Having worked together for over two years, City & Guilds and Assessment College have already established a strong working relationship. It is expected that this acquisition will help develop assessment capacity, as well as contributing towards City & Guilds’ international growth, which saw new offices opening in Botswana and Barbados last year. Read more

It is with great pleasure that we announce that, after 13 years in operation, a bulk of the shares in Assessment College have been bought by City & Guilds. City & Guilds have taken over control of the group from 1 March 2012.

City & Guilds holds to the same quality and ethical standards as Assessment College and is as committed to superior customer service and sound corporate governance as Assessment College has always been. It is a reputable, international organisation that will bring many more opportunities to Assessment College and all of its stakeholders. City & Guilds has become the global benchmark for skills development, being the UK’s leading awarding body, offering more than 500 qualifications across 28 industry sectors, through 8500 approved learning providers. City & Guilds impressively has over 130 years experience in the field.

Assessment College feels itself privileged to be part of the City & Guilds group. Please be assured that, at Assessment College, it is business as usual and we are still 100% committed to servicing our customers at the high quality you are accustomed to. Marietta Van Rooyen will no longer be involved in the business but will continue to participate in the education sector generally. I will remain MD of the business and our black empowerment partners, Liberty Lane Trading, will remain as shareholders together with City & Guilds.

Please feel free to contact me should any further information be required. Assessment College and City & Guilds are looking forward to a long and mutually beneficial relationship with you.

Best regards

Gerda Magnus

Managing Director, Assessment College 

Good morning readers.

With every New Year there are new ideas and new aspirations and I hope that every dream you have for this year will come to fruition.  But remember, they come about seldom by luck and more often by hard work. 

While I have a good sense about this year and what it will bring, I cannot help but think about the unfortunate situation at UJ earlier this month.  While I am obviously disturbed about the loss of human life, I do feel that aspect is only a small part of the real travesty that we observed.

Our Higher education institutions inclusive of FET colleges can at best accommodate around 100 000 new entrants per annum.  Of the somewhat 400 000 matriculants that have passed and are eagerly wanting to start “the rest of their life” 300 000 will be left without anywhere to go.

So let us consider the alternatives.  Learners can look for employment.  Considering the 45% unemployment rate this does not leave me very hopeful of that scenario.  Then there are private training institutions. The private sector could in theory fulfil a much larger need as this is a free market / business venture. It is however very unfortunate that we are seldom viewed as a partner and even less seldom as a part of the solution by the Department Of Higher Education.  In fact we are more often considered the public enemy by those who think that charging money for an education is not acceptable.  With funding deliberately channelled away from the private institutions in favour of public institutions. (And I won’t even enter the quality debate at this point).

So, thinking back to UJ.  There were thousands of students standing outside the University on those days.  For me they represent the 75% of youth in this country with nowhere to go.  The “ticking time bomb” as the politicians refer to them.  Now we’re investigating the Universities’ processes of registration to avoid a recurrence of this tragedy, but we fail to see the real tragedy.

In the minister of Higher Education’s defence, in media releases and interviews following the incident, I was certainly left with the impression that he is aware of the situation and he knows that it needs an urgent response.  He is also very commitedly working towards a solution.

It is unfortunate that the solutions being contemplated are effectively shrinking the private institutions in favour of often dysfunctional FET colleges. In principle one cannot disagree that public FETs should be developed and that they should be able to accommodate the majority of school leavers.  In my view achieving this will require at least a 10 year turnaround strategy.

Can we not find a way for private and public institutions to co-exist?  Today!! We need to help all the hopeless learners outside of Universities’ gates and in the future. Hopefully a brighter future.

Having shared my views on this issue I would like to further remind you that there are quite a few documents that require your comment. They are:

• Green paper for Post School Education and Training
• Proposed Qualifications sub-frameworks for general and further Education and Training.
• Proposed Seta Grant regulations

From Assessment College have a wonderful 2012. Aim high!

Best Wishes

Gerda Magnus and The Assessment College Team

One of the most frustrating dilemmas that the South African government is dealing with is the failure to deliver equitable education and training to all. After seventeen years of democratic government, five different national ministers of education, scores of provincial ministers of education and various changes in the education systems, there are still inequalities prevalent in schools. 

In his book Advocates for Change: How to Overcome Africa’s Challenges, Professor Jonathan Jansen, Vice Chancellor of the University of the Free State, puts into perspective some of the possible reasons for the conundrum of two unequal school systems in South Africa. On the one hand we have the underperforming black rural and township schools, and on the other hand we have the smaller middle-class Afrikaans and English medium schools (previously white) providing a functional educational system. This smaller sub-system provides most of the high school graduates that make it into universities.

What are the causes for these differences?
Many factors have been blamed for the differences in the two sub-systems. One of these is the fact that the parents of poorer children may not able to help their children with homework and assignments. Another factor is the lack of libraries and science laboratories and equipment. But many such factors can be disregarded due to the fact that poor children from black townships attending so-called Model C schools do very well. In addition, some schools in poorer areas get really good results despite not having money for libraries and laboratories.

Prof. Jansen points out that the two main differences between these two sub-systems seem to be the lack of systematic routines and rituals and a general lack of knowledge among teachers and principals in the township and rural schools. A certain amount of knowledge is required to impact on learning and to influence; worldwide, routines and rituals need to be established in productive schools.

Lack of systems and routines
What are the reasons for the disruption of ordinary school routines? Think about your school days and you will realise that considerable effort went into routine activities such as learners and teachers starting and ending on time, attending classes every day, monitoring of class attendance, homework issued and controlled regularly, regular tests being scheduled, parents being informed of school activities and disciplinary codes enforced. Errant teachers and learners used to be confronted promptly about their bad behaviour and were duly disciplined.

Lack of knowledge and accountability
The government invests large amounts of money in the development and training of teachers. Teachers even complain that they are suffering from training fatigue. Yet they are not held accountable for the quality of their teaching performance. There is still a historical resentment of and resistance to being evaluated and monitored as a teacher and this attitude is supported by the trade unions. Various attempts to instil systems of performance evaluation have failed to be successfully implemented due to this resistance.

Who should take responsibility for correcting this behaviour?
Traditionally there are two entities that guide the behaviour of professional people like doctors, accountants, engineers and such. These entities are the professional bodies and the employers. Teachers are guided by their employers, their professional body, the Quality Council for General and Further Education (Umalusi) and their trade unions. All these organisations have a code of behaviour or ethics that prescribes ethical and professional behaviour. It seems that some teachers follow these codes and others definitely do not.

Employers and Umalusi
Teachers in South Africa have three tiers of management, namely their school principal and governing body, provincial and district management and the national department of basic education. Which of these entities should take responsibility to get teachers to function effectively in schools and classrooms?

It seems that many principals in underperforming schools are too scared of union action to take disciplinary action against teachers that are not toeing the line.Umalusi, a government appointed quality assurance body that is responsible for the quality of delivery in general and further education schools, decided to do the quality assurance of provincial departments of education only. In turn, the provinces are supposed to ensure quality of delivery in the schools in each province. However, area and provincial supervision has been rejected by teachers in most schools and this attitude is backed up by the unions.

According to the constitution the National Department of Basil Education is not held responsible for the quality of teaching in the schools. What we need is leadership on all the management tiers, starting with the Minister of Basic Education, that oversee the educational system. We also need more leaders to stand up amongst principals and teachers to show the way. It is sad to say that some of those who have done so in the past have found that it is easier to conform and be quiet due to adverse peer pressure.

The South African Council of Educators
The South African Council of Educators (SACE) is a professional body aimed at enhancing the status of teaching and learning, to promote the development of educators and their professional conduct. It seems that SACE is not very successful in developing the professional conduct of many teachers who will go on strike and disrupt classes for union meetings at the drop of a hat, or who are often late for class or do not even bother to turn up at all.

The Code of Professional Ethics of teachers registered or provisionally registered with the SACE does not seem to have much influence on many teachers. It is true all over the world that an education system can be no better than the teachers delivering the education. Educators should adhere to the code of professional ethics of SACE, such as to acknowledge the noble calling of their profession and to acknowledge that the attitude, dedication, self-discipline, ideals, training and conduct of the teaching profession determine the quality of education.

It is time for SACE to take steps to deregister teachers that do not perform their duties in a professional way. This must also include some of the more mundane indiscretions like never being on time and using corporate punishment on learners. 

SADTU
The most powerful and influential body involved with teachers is the teachers’ labour unions, of which SADTU has the most members. They share a similar code of conduct with SACE.

The main aim of SADTU is to eradicate all forms of discrimination in education and to strive towards a free and democratic system of education in South Africa. If this were true, SADTU teachers will show respect for their learners and ensure that they are taught in the best possible way. If it is true that SADTU teachers are strongly committed to overcoming the serious legacies of apartheid education, and view their union as an effective structure through which they can participate in a transformative programme of national reconstruction and development, they will work very hard to eradicate the legacy of apartheid and overcome the odds in poorer schools. 

The unions need to take more responsibility for the way teachers are performing in the classroom and start thinking of ways to encourage teachers to be more effective and efficient in delivering education and training. It must surely mean something to SADTU that learners are the losers where teachers can never be called to order when they transgress.

Marietta van Rooyen has been a technical teacher and education and training specialist since 1978 and is a board member of the South African Board for People Practices (SABPP). She is also the Executive Chair of the Assessment College Holdings Group.

Everyone agrees that skills training is indispensable in South Africa. But the government department that is supposed to promote training creates obstacles that are virtually impossible to overcome, leaving private providers of occupational qualifications caught between a rock and a hard place.

The National Qualifications Framework Act defines a "training provider" as a provider of "occupational learning programmes" accredited in terms of the Skills Development Act. The training providers I am referring to are not fly-by-night operators and fraudsters, but respected providers who are properly accredited and have been training people in much-needed skills for many years.

Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande and his department place much emphasis on public providers for skills training. There is still room for private providers, they say, but skills education training authorities (Setas) are requested to give preference to public providers.

Private providers cost the government, and therefore the taxpayer, not a cent. On the contrary, they pay millions of rands in tax and provide jobs for thousands of people. In addition, they train and educate millions of learners.

Massive challenges
But they face massive challenges in getting accredited because of the restrictive and bureaucratic requirements of 21 different Setas. Added to this are the stipulations of accreditation with a quality council and registration with the department of higher education and training. It is not the legislation in itself that is the problem, rather it is poor implementation and the government's lack of understanding of the world of training.

Gill Connellan, the chairwoman of the Association for Skills Development Facilitation in South Africa, explains on the Skills Universe website how the Swiss regularly achieve excellence at the annual World Skills event: "There is an acknowledgement that the development of vocational excellence requires business for practice, private providers for niche and specific vocational and other skills and public-sector education for embedded knowledge and for further education that is formalised."

Merely getting registered with the higher education and training department, a constitutional requirement, poses one of the biggest obstacles for private providers. To register with the department, private providers have to be accredited first. That was supposed to be done by the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations, but providers have now been referred back to the Setas for accreditation until September 2012.

The problem is that the department itself does not recognise Seta accreditation, even though the Setas fall under its jurisdiction. So providers still have to be accredited by either the Council on Higher Education (CHE) or Umalusi, whose stamps of approval the department does recognise.

This means providers are forced to go through a kind of two-phase accreditation process: one with a Seta to recognise their qualifications and then with the CHE or Umalusi for registration purposes. To be accredited by the CHE means that skills-development providers must comply with criteria designed for universities. They must offer qualifications registered on the National Qualifications Framework.

In sum
In sum: clients expect skills-training providers to offer work-related occupational training, but these providers are not allowed to offer such training unless the qualifications are registered as academic higher-education ones.

At this stage, the Occupational Qualifications Framework has not been registered. Training providers cannot be accredited with the CHE, which does not recognise occupational-skills programmes. This means, in turn, that they cannot be registered with the department and so may not offer full qualifications.

Umalusi, the general and further education and training (FET) quality assurance council, does recognise Seta accreditation for FET purposes. This makes it possible for training providers on that level to register on the FET band of the National Qualifications Framework (up to grade 12 level).

One solution to the problem of registration for occupational training providers could be that Umalusi accredits post-school occupational qualifications (on the National Qualifications Framework's levels five and higher). Because Umalusi accepts Seta accreditation, training providers on all levels would then be able to register with the department.

Of course, the long-term solution is to get the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations functional as soon as possible. However, I understand the council was not allocated a budget this year, so it is not able to fulfil its mandate. It is time for the minister to intervene in this intolerable delay, which disadvantages providers and learners alike.

My colleagues and I have been trying to persuade the government to see reason for years. Yet, contrary to all common sense, the department and the CHE do not see the absurdity of expecting training providers to pretend to be universities when all they want is to do is provide skills training in classrooms, factories and workshops. All this is not only causing a bottleneck in the training system, it is forcing providers out of the system.

The consequences include:

• Limiting training opportunities for learners;


• Closing down businesses, large and small, that provide skills training;


• Destroying the jobs of providers' staff;


• Limiting the potential pool of future skilled workers; and


• Losing out on tax that would have been paid by the providers.

Without private providers, the training achieved by the skills system in the past 10 years would not have been possible. Private providers will continue to support skills development as much as they are allowed to. But the public provider system remains inefficient with very low pass rates. As long as it is given preference by government policy, there will be no change.

Marietta van Rooyen is executive chairwoman of Assessment College Holdings and a member of the South African Board of People Practices. She writes in her own capacity.

When I entered the world of technical training in 1976 there has been a constant battle to provide for progression from further education and training into higher education and training. To this day there has been no lasting solution for this problem.

Access to higher levels of training and education was possible along two pathways in the past. One way was to offer higher education courses within the colleges, as was the case with the N4 to N6 courses. The other way could be to allow FET College graduates access to the Universities of Technology.

I had the privilege of teaching at technical colleges for ten years where some really brilliant students were busy doing their trade apprenticeships as well as the N6 Diploma. After gaining the required experience, these students often went on to do the Government Ticket Certificate examinations. Once they achieved the GTC, they were qualified to manage large factories and mines. Some also became expert draftsmen and specialised in the design and drafting of highly technical instruments and equipment. So, in a way they did manage to reach HET status. 

Recently the Department of Higher Education and Training announced a comeback of apprenticeship courses as well as the N4 to N6 courses. One is grateful for this move, but why did it take so long to realise that all we needed actually was the updating of the content of curricula. It is important to know that we lost very valuable capacity in senior staff that could not see a future for themselves in the new FET Colleges. These where the technically skilled staff from a previous era, who did not get promoted and could not teach in the post school levels, and thus left for more challenging positions (or retired).

The Technical College Option for getting post-school qualifications is an affordable and local option for those who cannot afford to go to university. They can even study after hours while working and earning a salary. FET Colleges are still able to offer courses at a much more cost effective rate than the universities of technology. By offering this solution, the students will not need to seek their further learning at the Universities of Technology. 

However, some students that want to become engineers still do not have a pathway to higher education. At present neither the new FET courses nor the NATED N6 courses give students access to the Universities of Technology. It is now time for the HETD to ensure that there is a way for FET graduates into HET institutions. 

Training future technicians and technologists in career focused HET programmes, especially in the areas of engineering and the built environment should be the first priority. This will also assist the country to reach the To accelerate the training output in the priority areas of design, engineering and artisans that is critical to the manufacturing, construction and cultural industries has been stated as a key priority in the HRD-SA. The UoTs have to increase the annual output of engineering technicians, technologist and design graduates as well as develop progression learning pathways for artisans. 

The articulation possibilities between the FET and HET sectors within an integrated post-school system are far from finalised. This means that we will have to wait another couple of years before students will gain access along this pathway. In the mean time we are losing hundreds of students who could potentially bring scarce skills to the workplace. Why can FET colleges not take on the training and education of NQF Level 5 learners as they did for many years offering the N$ to N6 courses? The big challenge now is how to re-organise the education system into an integrated post-school system and develop a useful workforce. The Minister aims to draw on the knowledge, ability and experience of all stakeholders in the sector in a partnership to tackle skills development challenges.

IT IS HIGH TIME TO ADDRESS THE EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROBLEMS IN SA.

MARIETTA VAN ROOYEN

Under the apartheid regime, Piet Koornhof earned the nickname Piet Promises because of his never-ending promises that were never met. It seems under the current government we have not one but a plethora of Piet Promises.

In our country the two things that are constantly promised are better education and training, and more jobs.

Refer back to the January and February 2011 issues of this publication and you will find information on skills development proposals in the New Growth Path for South Africa and proposals from the Minister of Higher Education and Training on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the Skills Development System.

On 10 February 2011, in the State of the Nation Address by the President, one of his focus points included basic education and higher education and training.

THE PROBLEM WITH PROMISES

The problem with many of these great proposals and promises is that the delivery side is simply feeble. That could be due to many reasons, including corruption, lack of knowledge, poor management and lack of efficient cooperation between role players. 

One can name many examples of good legislation and good intentions that simply did not work out. These include:

·         The merging of universities and technical colleges to form large entities with campuses spread over large areas. Some institutions may never overcome the chaos and political infighting that ensued, and this certainly did not bode well for education and training;

·         The National Vocational Certificate for FET Colleges resulted in a curriculum pitched at a post school level, instead of further education level;

·         SETAs were supposed to facilitate the training of millions of learners in trades and occupations. Instead, many of them made it almost impossible for providers of education and training to do their work through red tape and misinterpretation of regulations. In addition they neglected to distribute money for the training of working people and accumulated vast funds in the SETA bank accounts;

·         The idea of a Quality Council for Trades and Occupations is very sound, yet it seems that this body simply cannot get out of its starting blocks. Some blame this on a lack of funding and others say that existing capacity is not utilised properly. For learners and providers on the ground, it means confusion and non-delivery of occupational qualifications; and

·         Apprenticeship training and trades were seen as not worthy to be taught at FET Colleges. The lack of this training has done severe damage to our economy and now we are bringing back this type of training, even though the curricula are sadly out of date. At least we show in this way that we can actually learn from our mistakes.

REINVENTING THE SQUARE WHEEL

The above list is still growing, but the worst effect is on the learners in basic education and their parents.

Experimentation with outcomes-based education and training started in 1995 with Curriculum 2005. This was an ambitious project based on systems in developed countries and ostensibly adapted for South African circumstances. It was not planned well, not thought through and not given enough time to become embedded. Our teachers were often not able to apply the principles due to lack of capacity and training. In addition, the necessary supporting materials and equipment were not funded properly. When learners started to fail, this system was blamed.

In 2005, the Department of Education, under Minister Naledi Pandor, decided to change the curriculum to the new National Curriculum Statement in an attempt to make things easier for teachers. Once again, the time given for implementation was too short, teachers were left in the dark and many of them did not understand the difference between Curriculum 2005 and the New Statement. Needless to say, the system was again blamed when learners started failing dismally.

Now we have been told by the next Minister of Basic Education, Minister Angie Motshekga, that we are about to get a new education system called CAPS (Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement). You would think we have learned, but the time frame given for implementation is even shorter, time for producing text books and materials almost impossible to meet and the teachers are even more confused. The system seems to depend heavily on the use of workbooks for each leaner, the usefulness of which still needs to be tested and the production of which is already mired in controversy.

We all know that the actual problem in education and training is basic education in schools. This problem will not be addressed any time soon. It is only once we get this right that most of the learners entering higher education and training will be able to cope with their programmes.

Massaging the matric results to look good, as was evidently done in 2010, will not address the problem at all.  

Marietta van Rooyen is the Executive Chair of the Assessment College of South Africa (www.assess.co.za). She served on the SAQA Board for eight years and is a board member of the SA Board for Personnel Practice.

I have been involved in quality assurance from the late seventies, first as an apprentice and later as an artisan. Later in life, in my capacity as Acting Engineering Foreman and ETD Practitioner, I obtained some useful insights first as a recipient and later as a practicing quality assurance officer in the field.

This article by no means debates the theories of quality but rather focuses on the fact that one needs to dirty your hands (and feet) sometimes to get this job done. One can easily lose focus with a “one size fits all” approach. Without one’s “feet on the ground” to monitor, evaluate and assist skills development interventions, no policy intentions will ever succeed.

I have conducted countless quality assurance activities on behalf of various ETQAs and a Professional Body and this is a snapshot of my experiences as the owner of ETD Consulting and an associate of The Assessment College of South Africa.

A brief overview of monitoring and evaluation processes

In the capacity of a monitoring and evaluation officer for ETQAs I see some areas of our country one would never otherwise see. I also meet the most interesting people one can ever imagine (such as a 93 year old learner that can at last write and sign his own name).  One is often greeting with joyful appreciation when arriving in outlaying areas for these visits.

The down side is that one travels on terrible roads and sometimes get stuck on farm roads many kilometres from the nearest town, without any cell phone signal. The enormous joy of finally being freed from this mess by a farmer’s wife and a provider’s project manager cannot be explained. (See attached photo and note the muddy feet.)

At the next service station I was surprised  and amazed by a friendly pump attendant who demanded to wash my muddy feet just because he saw me as fellow human being in need.  That night I had to try and sleep with a thousand mosquitoes fighting to have a sip of my blood.

Of course I went to this remote area to do a monitoring visit to a provider who is training learners there. And yes, the provider was sticking to the rules to the best of his ability. However, is it the human contact and experiencing our beautiful country that will remain with me and are the driving forces that motivates me the most.

Alfie R Wagner CHRP  

I have been involved in quality assurance from the late seventies, first as an apprentice and later as an artisan. Later in life, in my capacity as Acting Engineering Foreman and ETD Practitioner, I obtained some useful insights first as a recipient and later as a practicing quality assurance officer in the field.

This article by no means debates the theories of quality but rather focuses on the fact that one needs to dirty your hands (and feet) sometimes to get this job done. One can easily lose focus with a “one size fits all” approach. Without one’s “feet on the ground” to monitor, evaluate and assist skills development interventions, no policy intentions will ever succeed.

I have conducted countless quality assurance activities on behalf of various ETQAs and a Professional Body and this is a snapshot of my experiences as the owner of ETD Consulting and an associate of The Assessment College of South Africa.

A brief overview of monitoring and evaluation processes

In the capacity of a monitoring and evaluation officer for ETQAs I see some areas of our country one would never otherwise see. I also meet the most interesting people one can ever imagine (such as a 93 year old learner that can at last write and sign his own name).  One is often greeting with joyful appreciation when arriving in outlaying areas for these visits.

The down side is that one travels on terrible roads and sometimes get stuck on farm roads many kilometres from the nearest town, without any cell phone signal. The enormous joy of finally being freed from this mess by a farmer’s wife and a provider’s project manager cannot be explained. (See attached photo and note the muddy feet.)

At the next service station I was surprised  and amazed by a friendly pump attendant who demanded to wash my muddy feet just because he saw me as fellow human being in need.  That night I had to try and sleep with a thousand mosquitoes fighting to have a sip of my blood.

Of course I went to this remote area to do a monitoring visit to a provider who is training learners there. And yes, the provider was sticking to the rules to the best of his ability. However, is it the human contact and experiencing our beautiful country that will remain with me and are the driving forces that motivates me the most.

Alfie R Wagner CHRP

Associate of the Assessment College of South Africa

Last year I was privileged to be part of a project funded by the Transport SETA (TETA) to train some small business people in the Southern Cape. Only five out of fifteen actually achieved competency on an NQF Level 4, but when we did a survey of the other learners, we found that most of them achieved some or other milestone. One learner did a course in tourism, started working as a tourist guide. Another was so busy in her catering business she could not hand in her assignment. Her business is still growing. Some learners in the ANCYL got so involved in volunteer work for World Cup Soccer events that they could not attend the training any longer.

The problem of massive and growing unemployment of youth between 18 and 24 is a key challenge for South Africa. Some 37% of South Africa’s population of working age are youths; they account for 60% of the total unemployed. According to Statistics South Africa about 40% of the South African population is below the age of 20, and a further 19% between the ages of 20 and 30 (mid-year population estimates, 2008).

The one lesson I learned from the TETA training project is that people in informal business really need and appreciate training to grow their enterprises. Ian Ollis, a DA MP, comments on 8 April 2011in an article in the Daily Maverick: “I remain convinced that the basics of small business can be taught to someone who has taken the first step and started a little something.” He further comments that one can see entrepreneurs in every township in the country. This seems to be a global phenomenon in urban squatter areas. People start putting up stalls to sell food, cell phones, clothes, fruit and whatever else the community needs.

Thus, people create their own opportunities and become self-employed if they can find no jobs. This is more difficult for young people, as they lack the experience, skills and education necessary to start a new venture. They have no access to financial or business resources, so they find it hard to launch their own enterprises, even if they have a sound concept for starting a business. We can change this through small business training.

Trevor Manuel, the former Minister of Trade and Industry, clearly identified these issues as early as the beginning of 1995:

“Small, medium and micro enterprises represent an important vehicle to address the challenges of job creation, economic growth and equity in our country. We believe that the real engine of sustainable and equitable growth in this country is the private sector. We are committed to doing all we can to help create an environment in which businesses can get on with their job.”

(Extract from the White Paper on Small Business)

So far there has been very little support for small businesses from government, whether through training or start-up financing. Those bodies that are responsible for helping small businesses seem to be caught up in politics and in-fighting.

Gauteng, the Western Cape and the Northern Cape are the only provinces where the percentage of formal businesses is greater than the percentage of informal businesses. The contribution of the Northern Cape is tiny. In most of the other provinces the informal sector is about twice as large as the formal sector, demonstrating that the small business sector really establishes itself in those areas where the need is the greatest.

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) report has found that in countries with low levels of per capita income, the national economy tends to have a great number of very small businesses. As the per capita income increases, industrialisation and economies of scale allow larger and more established organisations to satisfy the increasing demand of growing markets and to increase their relative role in the economy.

There is little information available about small and medium enterprises in South Africa. According to a report in the Sunday Times (20 September 2009), 2,4 million companies were registered in South Africa at the time, of which 2,2 million (92%) were SMMEs. However, it is almost impossible to obtain accurate statistics on each category (namely small and medium), or on the various sectors in the economy.

While in many developed countries these businesses are considered marginal in their contribution to employment and GDP, in South Africa (as in many developing countries) these informal and micro enterprises provide livelihood and survival for millions of people.

It does not take a mathematician to work out that if half these SMMEs took in just one more employee, the result will be employment for more than one million people. Perhaps the ANC government does not want this can of uncontrolled growth to take place? Besides, small businesses (and even larger businesses) in South Africa avoid appointing staff because of the onerous labour laws. One CCMA case can ruin a small business – the owner may lose focus on the business and also pay the cost of claims and consultations.

By simplifying and making labour legislation friendlier to small business, the government could make it easier for them to hire (and fire) staff as needed. In addition, people who do get fired or retrenched will find a new job, as the labour market will be less rigid and open to accommodate the needs of an increasing number of businesses.

If government allowed private enterprise more freedom to grow without all the red tape, private enterprises could bear the cost of employment. Government can then focus on services to both individuals and businesses to make it easier for them to grow the economy.

Introduction

From all accounts it seems that the New Department of Higher Education and Training (DoHET) is starting to think about their portfolio as “post school education and training” as opposed to “higher education and training”. This is probably a natural result of FET Colleges and Skills Development being moved to the Department of Higher Education and Training. This is a very positive move. Our Minister now regard his scope of operations to include post school education as a whole, including public and private higher education and training, skills development, occupational education and training and vocational education and training.

Private Providers of ETD

The CHE published their Higher Education Monitor No. 8 report in October 2009. This report covers the state of higher education in South Africa from 2004 to 2007. For the first time the report reviews the higher education sector as a whole, including public and private providers. The CHE report states that the rapid increase in demand for higher–level skills in the country, and for tertiary education from individual learners means that the private sector can no longer be ignored. The report also stresses the limited capacity of public higher education to meet the demands for higher education.

The ability to include the private sector providers into a report like this is however restricted by the unavailability of statistics from the private providers. This is an obvious problem in the system, as the extent and contribution to higher education of the sector cannot be determined. I hope that APPETD, the Alliance for Private Providers of ETD will be able to solve this problem. The CHE states the following in their report:

The potential for expanding the private (provider) sector needs to be explored as well as the extent to which these institutions can contribute to the public good. More comprehensive data research into the sector is the starting point for a better understanding of these issues.

Funding and costs of study

Cost of study is often a barrier to access. The National Student Financial Scheme (NSFAS) adds the registration fee to the average cost of tuition and residence accommodation. The NSFAS is a success story in South Africa and provides funding for capable students who might otherwise be excluded from higher education as a result of poverty.

The report also states that private providers are catering mostly for affluent students that can pay for their own tuition. It is difficult to see any alternative for private institutions, as their learners do not have access to the NSFAS. The reason behind this is not clear, as these learners are no different from any other students. This leaves the Private providers little choice than to recover both the tuition and registration fees from the learners or their parents. Besides, one must bear in mind that private providers do not get any subsidy. To the contrary, they actually pay tax into the fiscus and do not cost the state anything.

FET Colleges are also heavily subsidised, and most of their learners also get bursaries to study vocational qualifications. Occupational learners are funded by the SETAs to some extent, or are sponsored by their employers.

Conclusion

The CHE is correct in asking for more information and research into the role played by the present 130 private providers. We are all aware that the public institutions have reached their capacity and cannot take in more learners. Yet, there is a surplus of students who wants to do higher education and a need for those skills. More students could make use of accredited and registered private providers if they could get access to the NSFAS, thus growing private provisioning without making bigger dents into the fiscus.

Minister Nzimande was correct in saying that matric failure is not the end of the world. Young people must also consider the trades, vocational and other occupational fields of study. Higher education should be the tip of the educational pyramid in post school education. It is not by any means supposed to be the catch all for all school leavers.

Mariétta van Rooyen, Executive Chair: Assessment College