Introduction
South Africa's 50 public Further Education and Training (FET) colleges are young institutions. They were created as recently as 2002 in terms of the FET Act, No 98 of 1998 with the declara­tion offormer technical colleges, colleges of education and training centres into 50 merged FET colleges.

The reason for the reform was captured in the 2001 Report of the Department of Education's National Landscape Task Team: combining smaller and weaker colleges with stronger institutions would develop economies of scale and create capacity within colleges to reach more students, and offer a wider range of programmes, ultimately positioning them better to meet social and economic demands.

The mergers commanded substantial institu­tional energy, at a time when concerns over unemployment, training and economic growth were growing by leaps and bounds. But when the call finally came from the highest level for colleges to step up their game - coupled with the financial commitment to do so - the merger growing pains dimmed.

In 2004, President Thabo Mbeki said:"We will, during the course ofthis financial year, recapi­talise all the technical colleges and intermediate training institutions, ensuring that they have the necessary infrastructure, capacity and pro­grammes relevant to the needs of our economy." Subsequently, the FET colleges sector has become a central feature ofthe government's strategy to tackle skills shortages, job creation and economic growth.

For instance, the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) 2005-2010 provides for close co-operation between Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) and FET colleges. Later sections of this book provide details on this. In addition, the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA), a govern­ment intervention set on removing blockages to development, has identified the need for focused interventions in education. One of these is: "A huge upgrading of FET col­leges." To act upon these priorities, the Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) was created. JIPSA has identified growth sectors that lack adequately skilled persons, including Engineer­ing, Construction, Financial Management, Management, IT, Tourism and Business Process Outsourcing.

For instance, in the IT networking field alone, there will be an estimated 113 000 vacancies in the next three years.
In the areas of internet protocol telephony, security and wireless technology, around 60000 posts will be vacant.
South Africa is also short of artisans, thanks to robust economic growth, but also because of the ageing of current artisans who are, on average, 54 years of age. FET colleges are now gearing up to make a contribution to these skills areas.

The recapitalisation process
The ability of colleges to make the contribution expected of them has been given huge momen­tum by the government's R1,9-billion allocation for the FET sector's recapitalisation. Education Minister Naledi Pandor said during 2006 that the recapitalisation process would fast-track the Department of Education's ongoing efforts since 1995 to transform the FET sector.

Some of the negative features of the then techni­cal colleges thatthe department has been trying to overhaul are:

Preparation for recap
Following the commitment of government, the Department of Education and colleges prepared for the recapitalisation process during 2005, while 2006 was used for monitoring and imple­mentation of plans. In the preparatory phase, the department commissioned a comprehensive report on skills needs, compiled a database ofFET college pro­grammes, concluded an audit of the infrastruc­ture and IT facilities of 236 college sites, devel­oped 50 college recapitalisation plans, drafted a sector recapitalisation plan and produced the first draft of a reformed FET college curriculum.

The drafting of the new college curriculum and design ofthe National Certificate (Vocational) in 11 fields of study - aligned with AsgiSA priority skills areas - and many additionalspecialisa­tions or electives has been a central part ofthe recapitalisation process. The aims, structure and programme ofthe National Certificate (Vocation­al) are outlined in the next section of this book. During 2006, the funds were transferred, the new curriculum was gazetted, lecturers were trained, textbooks were written, tenders and the specifications for infrastructure and equipment were awarded, examiners were appointed and students were recruited. In addition, the Depart­ment of Education developed a state of readiness instrument to determine whether colleges were prepared to introduce the new curriculum in 2007.

Coupled with the multimillion-rand recapitalisa­tion programme, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel announced in his mini Budget - his Medium­Term Budget Policy Statement late in 2006 - that R600 million would be forthcoming for student financial aid. In his 2007 Budget Speech, Manuel announced that another R600 million would be made available to deserving students in the FET college sector.

FET colleges first
The FET Colleges Act, which was passed in Parliament in 2006, consolidates and supports initiatives such as: NSDS, AsgiSA, JIPSA, recap and the delivery of a new curriculum. Education Minister Naledi Pandor has called it "one of the most significant pieces of legislation in the area of skills development and vocational education".

The aim of the Act is to strengthen colleges' responsiveness, co-ordination and quality. It will position colleges to teach the skills that are recognised and identified by AsgiSA and JIPSA. This legal muscle, which is now framing the emergence of this young sector, also gives substance to the Minister's call for"FET Colleges Firsr From as early as 2004, the Minister has been calling for colleges to be "first choice"insti­tutions and not"last resort" places of learning.

At present, there are about 400 000 students enrolled at FET colleges, butthe Department of Education wants to increase the number of students enrolled in priority programmes to one million in 2014. The recapitalisation process, the new National Certificate (Vocational) and the drive of FET col­leges to make a contribution have got the sector off to a favourable start.

The FET sector's response
This book confirms the promise of the FET sector - young and enthusiastic - to step into the huge , role with which it has been entrusted. For instance, it shows that colleges have not been idling aimlessly as they waited for their grand moment to arrive. Many of them have started to pursue best practices and processes.

These range from Quality Management Systems to Student Support Services units; from the professionalisation of lecturers to opening doors to students with disabilities.

FET colleges have heeded the call to be respon­sive, with exciting and wide-ranging linkages with the private sector, government depart­ments, municipalities, SETAs and educational institutions abroad. With these initiatives, FET colleges enhance the opportunities for students to gain practical experience and job placements. But colleges are also expressing responsiveness through a keen sense of their role as community resources. Colleges have been reaching out to the communities they serve, be they settlements of the big cities or the far-fiung villages of vast rural areas. This enables them to deliver education and train­ing on the broadest geographical scale, to com­munities that would otherwise not be reached.

Geographical reach is a strength that colleges are acutely aware of. There is evidence in this book of how colleges are using their geographical location to make a contribution to the communities that surround them; to be an accessible education and training resource to all. Perhaps the most striking feature of the FET sector that emerges from this book is how diverse the colleges are.

Institutions range in size and number of sites; in the programmes and courses they offer; in their strategic partnerships and in how they are managed. The character of colleges does not only differ from one college to another. Each college has different sites - some as many as nine - and each of these campuses differs from the next. This rich texture in the FET landscape gives colleges a collective fiexibility to live up to their mandate in the skills revolution.

In this, they have the support of the national government and provincial and national depart­ments of education. The colleges are seeking greater support from employers to participate in the renewal of the sector by providing opportunities for students to do their practical training.

Setting the tone in this respect is the construction sector (Murray & Roberts, Aveng/Grinaker-LTA, Wilson Bayley Holmes-Ovcon's/WBHO, Group Five and Basil Read) which will, in the next five years, help with the training of artisans at two fiagship sites which will have 1 000 students each by 2009. This partnership is expected to be the first of many and one of the many signs that the tide for FET colleges has turned. Education Minister Naledi Pandor captured the mood best when she said at the introduction of the FET Bill in the National Assembly at the end of 2006: "The time for the college sector has come."