The Times
*Colleges vital - Nzimande* *Mhlaba Memela, Sunday Times, 9 March, 2012 *Qualifications obtained at Further Education and Training colleges should be on a par with university degrees, Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande said yesterday.
Speaking at a campus in Durban, he said colleges should no longer be "glorified high schools".
"We can not have a situation where students study in the colleges for three years but, when they go to university, they are required to start afresh.
"We want to build these colleges as the first choice for our students not just an alternative [to universities]," he said.
Nzimande said qualifications earned at colleges were important to provide the skilled workers in short supply in the country.
He said his department was working hard to make it easy for youngsters from poor backgrounds to get an education and help fill skills shortages.
"The increase in registrations by 60%, over half in our colleges, means communities are starting to understand the importance of sending their children to these colleges. Colleges are vital in driving economic growth," he said.
Nzimande said students graduating from colleges had practical experience, while those from universities did not always have this.
In an effort to improve qualifications from colleges, Nzimande said his department had established relationships with some industries to ensure lecturers were exposed to workplaces.
"Lecturers at the colleges have never been in the workplace and they teach students only theory. That will now change as lecturers are exposed to the industries," he said.
The department would conduct an audit to establish financial and staffing needs for the colleges, which would no longer be controlled by provincial departments of education but by the national Department of Higher Education and Training.
*From: http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/2012/03/09/colleges-vital--nzimande*
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