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I’ve read the White Paper for Post-school Education and Training, issued by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). My initial idea was to write a report on the entire White Paper. However, my impressions will probably span quite a number of pages, so that I decided to write several notes such as this one on different issues. This one deals with Chapter 5: Private Education Provision.
To begin with, whoever wrote the section has a very good understanding of the intricacies of private education. She or he is absolutely correct that there are many problems associated with the sector, for example that the state does not have the capacity to quality assure private providers, that unscrupulous private providers utilise the gaps and weaknesses in the quality assurance system to offer useless learning programmes, etc.
This is creating serious problems for all private learning institutions, because the general perception is that private learning is dishonest and substandard.
Unfortunately the Minister refers to registered private providers only, which means that private learning institutions offering occupational learning, those who should accredit with the QCTO, are not even catered for.
In the last paragraph of the chapter, the Minister actually admits that he does not understand the private learning sector and he is not interested in finding out what contribution the sector can make to the upliftment of the South African community. I quote: “The government’s main thrust, therefore, should be to direct public resources primarily to meeting national priorities and to provide for the masses of young people and adult learners through public institutions.”
In future articles I will point out the audacity of claiming skills levies, paid by the industry, as belonging to the government (public resources, nogal).
In closing, private learning institutions offering occupational learning will have to fend for themselves. Forget about DHET, focus on the industry for acceptance and support of occupational learning. Nobody can resist good quality learning. If your learners prove to their employers that they can add value to the business they will come back for more and they will support you.
Dr Hannes Nel, MD Mentornet
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