Business Education Learners in the Further Education and Training Phase: Towards the Development of a South African Readiness Model to Strengthen Learners’ Academic Performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Venicia McGhie ◽  
Antoinette Venter ◽  
Karen Dos Reis
Keyword(s):  
Academic Performance ◽  
South African ◽  
Business Education ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Training Phase ◽  
Further Education And Training ◽  
And Training

scholarly journals Use of social media platforms for improving academic performance at Further Education and Training colleges

2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Godwin P. Dzvapatsva ◽  
Zoran Mitrovic ◽  
Anthony D. Dietrich
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Academic Performance ◽  
Test Scores ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Further Education And Training ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
And Training ◽  
Knowledge Portal

Background: The National Certificate Vocational (NC[V]) curriculum offered by Further Education and Training (FET) colleges was introduced in 2007 to address the skills shortage in South Africa. Information Technology (IT) lecturers encountered a number of challenges in delivering lessons throughout the course, which affected the academic performance of learners. The biggest challenges identified were the lack of adequate contact hours for the course and inconsistency in the way in which final examination papers were set.Objectives: The aim of the project was to investigate the use of: (1) a knowledge portal for verifying the quality of assessments by lecturers and (2) social media to increase contact time with FET college students in an attempt to improve their academic performance.Method: The NC(V) level 3 student test scores for 2011 were compared to those of 2012. In addition to the test scores, students also received a questionnaire so as to determine their perceptions on social media usage. Lecturers also received a questionnaire on their perception of the knowledge portal.Results: The data collected from seven lecturers and 38 students indicated a 35% (from 30% – 65%) improvement in academic performance after the introduction of the interventions, that is social media and a knowledge portal; an indication of the importance of electronic media in enhancing learning.Conclusion: The research offered FET lecturers an additional method for learning and teaching in that they could use the knowledge portal to set up quality assessments for the students and social media to increase contact learning time.

Expressing Organisational Autonomy: A Case Study of South African Further Education and Training Colleges

Politeia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Juan ◽  
Sylvia Hannan
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
South African ◽  
External Environment ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Further Education ◽  
External Control ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Further Education And Training ◽  
The Government ◽  
And Training

The organisational governance of further education and training colleges in South Africa has been cited as an obstacle to the institutions’ ability to contribute to the developmental needs of the country. In response, the government has instituted major policy reforms since 1996, including a move towards granting greater organisational autonomy to these colleges, with limited success. The purpose of the study was to gain an understanding of the causes of these governance issues by examining the effect of the organisational environment, with specific focus on the power dynamics that characterised that environment between 2010 and 2012. A qualitative research approach was adopted to answer two research questions: (i) How did the concentration of power in the external environment affect the expression of autonomy of further education and training colleges between 2010 and 2012? and (ii) How did the colleges respond to the power dynamics in the external environment? The analysis of data from case studies of two further education and training colleges revealed that the government had applied external control over the institutions, thereby constraining the overt expression of autonomy. However, the colleges were not without agency and were able to respond strategically to demands from the policy environment. Thus, this study offers a counter-narrative in South African literature on governance in vocational colleges, and the authors of this article assert that the failing governance in respect of the case studies was a result of external forces (power dynamics) rather than the internal characteristics of the colleges.

scholarly journals The accessibility of further education and training colleges to South African sign language users in KwaZulu-Natal

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Nqobile Lovable Sawula
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
South African ◽  
People With Disabilities ◽  
Education And Training ◽  
Further Education ◽  
Deaf Community ◽  
Further Education And Training ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
And Training

After twenty-four years of democracy, the predicament of people with disabilities has finally become part of the transformation agenda. There has been a growing acceptance that people with disabilities can play active roles in both transforming their own lives and contributing to society. For this to transpire, access to proper education and training opportunities is fundamental. There is thus a need for higher educational institutions to divest themselves of all forms of discrimination against those with disabilities. This requires that people with disabilities be given equal opportunities to enter higher education programmes and to succeed in them. Despite the strong legislative and policy framework for addressing disability in the education sector, access to higher education for disabled students, particularly the South African Sign Language (SASL) users, is believed to be limited. Using the Social Model of disability, this study seeks to investigate the accessibility of Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges to SASL users in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). In this investigation, a total number of fifty South African Sign Language users filled in questionnaires and two representatives from Further Education and Training (FET) Colleges in KwaZulu-Natal were interviewed. This study targeted SASL users who were out of school and wanted to further their studies at higher education institutions. The participants were recruited by inviting all d/Deaf and hard of hearing people from the four selected Deaf organizations/associations in KwaZulu-Natal to participate in the study. The study undeniably reveals that FET Colleges are not accessible to SASL users in KwaZulu-Natal. This is because FET Colleges in KwaZulu-Natal do not provide access services like SASL interpreters for the d/Deaf community, which violates d/Deaf people’s right to education and is a barrier to the d/Deaf students who want to further their studies. Furthermore, this research identified that the Deaf community in KwaZulu-Natal is not well informed about devices that can be used to assist them in classrooms in order to access information.

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