Abstract
D.Ed.
This thesis provides an analysis of the essentials of effective and efficient management of
the curriculum for Further Education and Training (FET) colleges in South Africa
through the examination of the effective management of FET. The aim of the research is
to explore the perceptions of FET councils, principals and educators on the management
of FET colleges. It is believed that these perceptions have far-reaching implications on
the aspirations of the stakeholders with regard to the implementation and success of the
curriculum for FET colleges.
The literature revealed that the legislation, namely, the FET Act 98 of 1998, the
Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, the SAQA Act 58 of 1995 and the Skills
Development Act 97 of 1998 form an indispensable part of the FET sector and also that
the new legislation provides all the stakeholders (councils, principals and educators of
FET colleges) with a stance, frame of reference and guidelines to manage the curriculum
for FET colleges in South Africa effectively and efficiently.
The study also revealed that a success in FET sector will be achieved by closing the gap
between "education and training" and also "theory and practice". Removal of the
fragmentations in education through a co-coordinated, flexible and high-quality FET
system will result in employability and employment opportunities for FET learners of the
future. It emerged that the above objective may best be achieved by strengthening cooperation between the Department of Education and Department of Labour, in which
case a new system of learnerships was identified as a mechanism to enhance collaboration between the aforementioned departments.
In order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the perceptions of the aforementioned
FET stakeholders on the dynamics of management of the curriculum for FET colleges,
the research design is qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual (Mouton &
Marais, 1991:43-44, 51). The literature study; individual and focus group interviews,
observations and field notes; and site analysis were employed as research methods.
From the analysis of the data, four major themes, namely, transformation of FET sector,
redress of the past injustices of the FET sector, ensuring equity in all respects regarding
FET matters and ensuring equality in all aspects within the FET sector. Categories and
sub-categories were also obtained from the analysis of data and they were used as
strategies to achieve the objectives of the themes in question.
The important findings were discussed at length and thereafter, conclusions,
shortcomings, recommendations and guidelines