The Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande, will again break new ground when he convenes and addresses the first ever capacity-building workshop with members of student representative councils from all Further Education and Training Colleges to align student leadership with government’s vision for the sector.
The workshop takes place against the backdrop of a number of challenges the Post-School Education and Training system has been grappling with, where the FET Colleges have been dealing with the bulk of such challenges as the Ministers sets them on a path of becoming institutions of choice for further education in the country.
Members of the media are invited to attend.
Date: Thursday, 28 February 2013
Time: 09h00 (Minister’s keynote address)
Briefing: 12h00
Venue: Burgers Park Hotel, Van Der Walt Street, Arcadia in Pretoria.
Please confirm attendance with Zanda on 079 374 5241.
South Africa’s PSET system has a total of 50 FET Colleges with 264 campuses spread across the provinces.
“I am convinced that in our dedicated efforts to make FET Colleges institutions of choice in the country, that one of the critical areas in which capacity must be built within this sector is within the FET College governance structures. One of the critical components of that is the Student Representative Council (SRC),” Minister Nzimande said.
The workshop is an historic event since the Department of Higher Education and Training was established in 2009 because while the Minister has met with all FET Colleges’ stakeholders in the past three years, he has not yet engaged with the colleges’ student leadership.
“To correct the PSET structural distortions and increase education and training opportunities for the production of medium to high level skills, government has placed FET Colleges at the centre of our skills development programmes. As a department we are therefore investing massively in building the capacity of the FET College system so that we can deliver on the required skills. The workshop with their student representation is part of that broader agenda,” Minister Nzimande said.
The opportunity will be used to outline the Minister’s vision for the FET College sector, create a forum for the Minister to also outline the future policy direction for Colleges as they move from provincial to national competence, as well as the role SRCs should play.
“This will be an opportunity to articulate to the student leadership initiatives we have taken which are aimed at making FET Colleges institutions of choice, to outline my expectations of the student leadership and the role they can play in contributing to changing FET colleges into the catalyst for skills development, economic growth and poverty alleviation. It will also be an opportunity to provide a platform for the student leadership to engage with me on challenges that affect students while at the same time providing recommendations from a student body perspective on how to best resolve some of the challenges within the short, medium and long-term,” the Minister said.
