Teacher training colleges make comeback
2013-01-24 14:34
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2013-01-04 10:06
Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande sets aside seven billion rand for bursaries and loans.WATCH
Johannesburg - Plans to re-introduce teacher training colleges were
underway with one former college scheduled to re-open next week, Minister of
Higher Education Blade Nzimande said on Thursday.
Speaking at a New Age business briefing in Johannesburg, he said the first
school to open would be the Ndebele College Campus in Siyabuswa, Mpumalanga.
Training at the college would be facilitated by the University of
Johannesburg.
Three more colleges would be opened next year in KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and
the Eastern Cape.
Between 1994 and 2000 the government shut down teacher training colleges and
merged them with other institutions. The move was aimed at "overcoming the
educational inequalities of apartheid and reducing an identified oversupply of
primary [school] teachers".
In 2012, Nzimande said the higher education department had noted an increase
in the number of people enrolling for full-time education programmes. Almost 38
000 enrolled for teaching courses in 2009 and over 41 000 in 2010.
12 years of schooling
Nzimande said the new colleges needed to focus on the development of
teachers for the foundation phase.
With scores of new tertiary entrants students failing to pass most of their
first year subjects, Nzimande dismissed claims that the lowering of the matric
pass mark had played a role.
He said those who qualified for university degrees had usually obtained very
high marks.
Nzimande said the fact that South Africa had 12 years of lower education
probably played a role in pupils' lack of readiness for tertiary level.
"We are one of the few countries with 12 years of schooling and about
three years needed for a degree... Other countries have 13 years of schooling
and four-year degrees."
More mentoring and tutoring programmes were needed to help first-year
students deal with the pressure of tertiary education. He said some
institutions offered a foundation year for students not quite ready to begin
tertiary courses.
- SAPA
