The NBI has played a vital role in the initial transformation of the Further Education and Training (FET) system. After the initial investment through the Colleges Collaboration Fund (CCF) of R85 million, funded by the Business Trust and managed by the NBI in partnership with the national Department of Education (DoE) ,and following the completion of the merger of 152 small colleges into 50 large, multi-campus institutions in 2003, the focus shifted towards building constructive partnerships between the colleges and industry.
Photograph by Johnny Onverwacht |
Through industry or regional partnerships, companies can collaborate with colleges to build the capacity to deliver the skills that business requires. These mutually rewarding relationships provide a sustainable partnership which will be of wider social and economic benefit to the country. A platform for bridging the gap between education and the world of work in South Africa - is a critical component of the initiative.
The overall impact that the NBI seeks to achieve is a modern, high quality, responsive public FET system contributing significantly to effective skills development in support of economic growth in South Africa. |
The NBI’s work in FET is based:
at a programmatic level through the College Industry Partnerships (CIP) Programme, and
at a strategic level through continuous high level engagement and dialogue as well as at policy and implementation level in both industry and government arenas.
The NBI currently facilitates partnerships in the Construction and Mining sectors at an operational as well as a strategic level. A multi-disciplinary engineering initiative is also under consideration through the Technical Skills Business Partnership programme.
Photograph by Johnny Onverwacht |
A model for colleges as Centres of Learning Excellence for Technical and Vocational Education and Training has been developed. Colleges are selected and agreed between the DoE and willing companies in identified sectors. The purpose of the focused intervention is to develop responsive and relevant colleges specific to the needs of those sectors. The Construction Industry Partnership is based on this model with two colleges (one each in Gauteng and the Western Cape provinces) being selected for development as potential Centres of Excellence. |
The importance of the role of business in helping shape a responsive FET sector that addresses the needs of the economy and the society in which business operates has been re-affirmed throughout the facilitation process and the brokering of the college industry partnerships. The changing context and the influences in the external environment demand review of the “packaging” or application of the CIP framework, which is flexible enough to ensure responsiveness to the needs of each partnership. The strength of the strategy lies in players learning from practice and engaging at the policy and the strategic level with key stakeholders and decision makers.
Current Activities
CIP Review
During 2007, the NBI commissioned a review of the College-Industry Partnerships in the Construction, Mining and Steel sectors and well as an analysis of the overarching strategy which guides CIPs. This was completed in 2008 in the form of case studies, and the lessons generated from the review have been shared on various vocational education platforms.
Some of the key findings of the review are as follows:
There cannot, nor should there, be a homogenisation of CIPs. Each industry sector engages according to its own needs, priorities and the resources that it is able to muster for implementation. This suggests that if CIPs are to extend beyond general capacitating endeavours, the college sector clearly has to engage with industry partners on terms that address the needs of particular sectors.
The optimum partnership route is one where partners find points of engagement that take account of the embedded institutional practices of all parties.
While there is growing, if still uneven, endorsement from industry’s side for the broader knowledge and skill base that the new National Curriculum Vocational (NCV) programmes aim to develop, industry responds most positively when they are involved in tailoring sector-relevant programmes to their needs.
The role of a facilitator is critical to such an engagement. The review consistently identified the need for a third party to facilitate interactions between business and government and to ensure that the relevant policy issues are understood and that there is a process of mediating these issues with the relevant players.
Curriculum Review
A key objective of the construction CIP has been to review the NCV: Building and Civil Construction and to ensure that it addresses the needs of industry in a manner that focuses on the development of the intermediate skills as required by industry. The NCV is perceived as an opportunity; in framing this objective, partners recognised that the purpose of the NCV should not be to address the short term skills requirement of the sector but to focus on mobile vocational skills, that is, intermediate level skills.
Through a rigorous process of engagement managed by a construction industry specialist, a revised curriculum at Levels 2, 3 and 4 has been developed which the partners (DoE as well as industry) believe will provide a solid foundation. The revised curriculum will also ensure that learners have the knowledge they require so that when they enter the industry they only require practical experience and certain focused skills training in order to be ready to play an intermediate role in the industry. The phased roll-out of the revised curriculum began in January 2009, with lecturers having undergone intensive industry-sponsored content training in 2008.
The NBI has worked closely with the partners to fine tune the high level project plan along with the budget based on the agreement of the parties to extend the partnership until end 2012. This will ensure that the partnership is able to effectively measure the impact and absorption of NCV learners into the construction industry.
The Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA) commissioned the NBI to undertake research into the NCV: Engineering in 2008. The purpose of the research was to conduct a comparative analysis between the NCV, the previous NATED (N) Programme offered by FET Colleges and the Unit Standards that are registered by the MQA. The intention is to identify gaps (if any) and then develop content for those identified gaps.
The findings have highlighted interesting outcomes which have proved valuable not only to the Mining sector, but to the wider Engineering sector. An initiative to address the gaps that have been highlighted in the analysis is currently under consideration.
Updated 18 March 2009
Frequently asked questions about CIPs