The Services Sector Education & Training Authority (SSETA) has entered into a partnership with Blackburn College of UK. In terms of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed today, the SSETA appreciates the challenges faced by FET Colleges. This partnership serves to promote the improvement of delivery standards and the performance of FET Colleges and the related impact for the services sector.
In the Western Cape, the South Cape College, West Coast Further Education Training and Northlink College have been identified as beneficiaries.
Through this strategic partnership, the model currently used by Blackburn will be replicated by the SSETA in seven other identified FET Colleges in the country. Ten FET Colleges have been targeted as the initial beneficiaries of the collaboration, which are situated within the Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Limpopo, Kwa-Zulu Natal and the Northern Cape.
The first four programmes that will be implemented from the partnership focus on sharing best practice around Lecturer Development, Curriculum Development, Project Management and Leadership Development.
Vocational and Apprenticeship training
Blackburn College has achieved a 100% success rate with its 116 vocational courses and an 89% success rate on the apprenticeships programmes, against the national average of 64% in the UK.
Ian Clinton, Principal & CEO of Blackburn College, says: “We are proud to be in partnership with the Services SETA. This partnership heralds a new era in the exchange and sharing of best international practices, with skills transfer helping to make the South African FET colleges the first choice for learning. We will enable SSETA to deliver fast and efficiently in its promotion of the Public FET colleges.”
The partnership is in line with the view of Blade Nzimande, the Minister of Higher Education and Training, that the skills gap can be closed by ensuring that new entrants to the labour market are adequately skilled through vocational and apprenticeships training at FET Colleges.
