Masters Degrees (Education Policy Studies)
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Browsing Masters Degrees (Education Policy Studies) by browse.metadata.advisor "Du Plessis, W. S."
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- ItemRepositioning of technical colleges within the transformation of education in South Africa(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2000-03) Van der Merwe, Theresia; Du Plessis, W. S.; Prinsloo, N.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Education a Training forms such an integral part of the community that it can never remain unaffected by the fundamental impact of the transformation taking place within a democratising new South Africa. The transformation of the education processes is also consistent with international trends. The drift towards decentralisation, away from the rigid formal structures and systems of the old dispensation, and the crumbling of boundaries to create a freer and more flexible dispensation, are also indicative of postmodernist thinking. This study has found that technical colleges, throughout their complex history, have admirably withstood and repelled the onslaughts on their right to exist, and that they have indeed managed to strengthen their indispensable position in the education and training system of South Africa. In spite of the wealth of instructional and training opportunities in the local and global market, colleges once again find themselves at a new crossroad with the restructuring of the South African Education system as a whole. These changes, which embrace all levels and areas of technical colleges, are also typical of a postmodernist view and include, inter alia, the following: control and management, funding, level of programmes that ought to be offered, curriculum, composition of staff corps, instructional approach, evaluation and admission policy. The only constant in most cases are the physical facilities and buildings. The nature and extent of the changes has placed the colleges at the centre of a tangle of confusion. The lack of leadership on the part of the provincial education departments and the lack of involvement of the business sector only add to the anxiety and unanswered questions at colleges. The researcher has found that technical college have enormous potential and a central role to fulfil in the development of future human resources in South Africa. Policy-makers should, therefore guard against introducing restrictive measures that would limit the focus of the colleges to the FET level. It would hamper the articulation of learners, thwart the approach of providing 'seamless education', and constrain the development of existing qualities. For once in the history of education in South Africa, there is an urgent need for policy-makers and those responsible for implementing such policies to give their undivided attention to this 'orphan', who has such a vital role to play in the economy and educational system of South Africa.