Introduction
In line with the amended Further Education and Training Colleges Act, 2006, passed into law in April 2012, all functions related to Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges which had previously been assigned to the provincial education departments, now revert to the national Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET).
In anticipation of its expanded role and in recognition of the urgent need to strengthen the FET College sector, DHET launched the FET College Improvement Project in October 2011. This initiative is aimed at improving the functionality and capacity of FET Colleges nationally. Implementation commenced in the Eastern Cape and shortly thereafter in Limpopo and will in due course be rolled out to all other provinces.
DHET has contracted JET Education Services to manage the operational implementation of the Improvement Project nationally. In the Eastern Cape it has been conceptualized as a three-year intervention and is to run from October 2011 to September 2014. JET has subcontracted Saide to provide technical support and capacity building to improve the quality of teaching and learning across all the FET colleges in the province.
The project has been divided into two phases. In the first phase a rapid assessment of key functional areas across all eight colleges was undertaken, the eight key functional areas being:
- College management and governance
- Strategic and operational planning
- EMIS and monitoring and evaluation
- Financial and risk management
- Human resources management and development
- Quality of teaching and learning programmes
- Student support services
- Infrastructure management and planning
The findings have been used to design an integrated improvement intervention which will be implemented over the next two-and-a half years.
Saide's role in the project
The focus of Saide' s support intervention is on the teaching and learning aspect. This is the core business of the college and therefore, the heart of the improvement project. Work done in the other seven functional areas needs to support the achievement of quality teaching and learning leading to student success. The close interrelationship of teaching and learning with other functional areas is illustrated in relation to the implementation of the proposed improvement strategy e.g. accurate data is required from the EMIS unit to support proper programme planning and human resources needs to manage the recruitment of appropriately qualified staff for effective teaching and learning to take place. Additionally, there is a particular overlap between teaching and learning and student support services, especially with regard to student academic support.
Progress to date
Saide conducted a rapid assessment of the current state of teaching and learning in the eight colleges between November 2011 and February 2012. In addition to the data gathered on teaching and learning during site visits to the colleges, data from a range of other key sources was also collected. These included:
- a college policy and document review;
- review of various reports on the state of the FET Colleges prepared by the HSRC and other commissioned agencies; and
- the collection of college quantitative data, including student pass rates.
A synthesis of all the data collected during the rapid research was used to determine key areas of the proposed teaching and learning improvement intervention.
Management representatives from each college responsible for teaching and learning, student support and the delivery of the fundamental subjects (English, Maths and Life Orientation) were invited to participate in two working group meetings. This was used as a mechanism to make colleges a part of the improvement process and to try to secure buy-in for the planned intervention. At these meetings the rapid assessment findings and the main features of the proposed intervention design were presented and discussed.
Planned Intervention Approach
It is planned that the teaching and learning intervention will focus on putting in place the necessary college-level policies, systems/processes and procedures needed for delivery of quality programmes and on supporting and building management capacity. Additionally, college-based and external courses will be developed to strengthen lecturer capacity within the fields of content knowledge, pedagogy and workplace-related skills.
Overall, the approach to the college improvement intervention is conceptualized as developmental. The technical assistants will work alongside college colleagues to assist them to define and achieve their particular path to improving performance. This approach is intended to ensure that each college remains primarily accountable for, and therefore in charge of, its own institutional transformation and service delivery improvement.
In the short term, many of the intervention activities will be implemented on site, per college. However, in anticipation of the DHET policy on Professional Qualifications for Vocational Education Lecturers being finalised, the mid- to long-term plan is to involve various higher education institutions in developing a set of nested professional qualifications – both for initial as well as for continuous professional development of college lecturers.
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