Education

Digital skills are in demand.

The Minister of Higher Education, Dr Blade Nzimande, was on hand in October 2022 to officially open the CHIETA SMART Skills Centre in Saldanha Bay (pictured). The Chemical Industries Education and Training Authority, which reports to the minister, aims for the R3-million facility to help citizens learn digital skills.

The Provincial Government of the Western Cape has invested more than R1.6-billion in e-learning over the last five years in response to Covid and the demands of remote learning. A total of 1 290 schools within the province now have broadband connectivity and there are 1 316 with computer labs and 9 992 smart classrooms (SOPA).

Ten new schools were successfully completed in 2020/21, which has led to about 1 100 new teachers being employed.

The province’s I-CAN centres allow for public access to digital skills programmes, WiFi and business services. The centres are divided into zones (including Create, Study and Learn) and printing, graphic design and laminating services are available.

The University of Cape Town joined the trend with the creation of an online high school. The school hopes to close the opportunity gap for poor students in under-resourced areas.

The University of Cape Town has more than 21 500 students, 720 permanent staff and 39 A-rated researchers (40% of South Africa’s total). Stellenbosch University is linked to Stellenbosch’s growing reputation as a technology hub. The University of the Western Cape is home to several national research bodies.

These three institutions, plus the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, produce approximately 12 000 science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates every year and host 11 000

Sector Insight

students from other African countries. University education is available in George through the Nelson Mandela University (NMU): Saasveld is home to the School of Natural Resource Management and the York Street Campus delivers courses in business and social science, accounting and business management.

SARETEC offers industryspecific training in a new economic sector. The South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre is managed by the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (Bellville campus) but it collaborates with several other institutions and private companies.

Unisa, the country’s biggest distance learning institution, has a campus in Cape Town and a service centre in George.

Airports Company SA (ACSA), the City of Cape Town and the False Bay TVET College in Westlake have combined to offer residents of Blikkiesdorp a chance to learn skills in brick-laying, house-building, scaffolding and health and education. ACSA is investing R5-million in the 12-month certification project and the Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) will channel funds to False Bay College for training.

In 2022 the College of Cape Town Hospitality Department was invited by the Kofler Group

Middle East LLC to select four N6 Hospitality and Catering Services students to apply for an opportunity to work as Front of House Facing Commis Chefs at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. All of the students were from the City Campus and spent all of November and half of December in Doha.

Specialisation Programme

A Centres of Specialisation Programme has been introduced by the Department of Higher Education and Training to tackle priority skills. The College of Cape Town TVET concentrates on plumbing and automotive motor mechanics. A welding academy in Thornton has been opened with support from the merSETA (Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services SETA).

Outside of the Cape metropole, Boland College looks after Stellenbosch, Worcester, Paarl and Caledon, while the Southern Cape College covers a wide area, from George to Beaufort West. The West Coast College also has a big catchment area.

The Western Cape Department of Infrastructure is rolling out a skills programme for young people in prison. The focus is on technical skills in the built environment.

Online Resources

Apprenticeship Game Changer: www.westerncape.gov.za

Centres of Specialisation: www.dhet.gov.za

SA Renewable Energy Technology Centre: www.saretec.org.za

TVET colleges: www.tvetcolleges.co.za

New business schools

Woodstock and Salt River are increasingly trendy destinations, something that is encouraged by tax rebates and other incentives to new businesses willing to open in that part of Cape Town that used to be an industrial and transport hub. Two savvy business organisations that have taken up new premises in the area are the Henley Business School and the Regent Business School.

Henley Business School will offer four of its accredited qualifications, three at undergraduate level, and its honours-level Postgraduate Diploma in Management Practice, from its new Brickfield campus in Woodstock. The new campus will also host the school’s executive education and customised programmes for its Cape Townbased corporate clients.

Support will be offered to Cape Town students studying for the Henley MBA programme, but they will continue to be registered with the Johannesburg campus and any physical sessions related to the course will still be held in Gauteng. Most of the MBA work is done remotely.

Regent Business School opened its new Cape Town campus in The Boulevard Office Park, Woodstock, in January 2023. In addition to the courses offered by the school, students are promised full access to the iLead lab and Black Umbrellas business incubation hub, entrepreneurial skills and assisting with funding and opening a small business. The Mayor of Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis spoke on the occasion of the launch on the topic, “New age teaching for the leaders of tomorrow”. ■