Research On The Reform Of Further Education And Training Colleges In South Africa

Further education and training colleges are the core institution to provide secondary vocational and technical education They are entrusted with the important missions to train skilled workers and solve youth unemployment problem, which are required by the country for its national economic development. Since1994, after the establishment of the democratic government, the government-leading reforms of further education and training colleges are progressing and continuously deepening in different aspects, mainly in merger, management, curriculum, funding, quality assurance. This paper attempts to make a more detailed exposition and analysis of the effectiveness of further education and training colleges reforms from the perspective of policy, and propose the trends and movements of reforms.Chapter one reviews three historical evolution periods of further education and training college prior to1994, and studies its status and functions in the South African education system.Chapter two expounds the necessity and urgency of further education and training colleges reforms in both international and domestic context. Based on the new circumstances of international vocational education development, as well as the practical needs of South Africa which include political transformation, social development and employment plight, the reforms are breakthrough initiatives, aiming to fulfill equitable education and quality improvement, solving the contradiction between ongoing high youth unemployment and unmet social demand for skilled personnes.Chapter three studies the main contents of further education and training colleges reforms. In the value orientation aspect, The education reforms first emphaise fairness and equality, then convection to quality improvement. In the institutional management aspect, it establishes a unified, coordinated education and training system through merger and management reconstruction. In financial support aspect, it improves the forms and approaches of funding. In quality assurance aspect, it standardizes lecturers and graduates’ qualification accreditation and curriculum.Chapter four analyzes the effects of its reforms. Some important achievements have been made. The reforms optimize the configuration of institutional resources, expand opportunity of enrollment, improve lectures’ quality and enhance the diversity and relevance of curriculum. Nonetheless, it is noted that despite advances have been made since the advent of democracy, important challenges remain. They are the neglected college cultural reconstruction, poor government administration and college management, lack of financial support funds, overlapped authority caused by national qualification framework and insufficient coordination of curriculum implementation, which make the reforms not so smoothly as expected.Chapter five summarizes its reform characteristics and predicts its trends. The reforms mainly present four features:macro to micro, progressive, employment-oriented and cooperative managed on the rationalization of powers and responsibilities. In2013, White Paper for Post-school Education and Training issued by Department of Higher Education and Training states the coming reforms of Further Education and Training College will focus on three main aspects, that is, strengthening linkage to the industrial sector, extending professional qualification certificates and enlarging financial support for disadvantaged students.