 |
||
 | ||
Education
• The Historic Schools Restoration Project gives private companies a chance to invest in the Eastern Cape’s educational future
The education sector in the Eastern Cape is diverse. The province’s fine universities and traditional schools have a high reputation, but challenges remain in providing quality education to all the region’s inhabitants.
In the 2009, in the budget and policy speech of the province’s MEC for Education, Mahlubandile Qwase, a commitment was made to eradicate 860 mud schools over a period of three years. A total of 81.6% of the province’s school pupils are now attending no-fee schools, which helps to spread educational opportunity but places additional burden on public finances.
There is no doubting the priority given to education by the provincial government, which voted R19.4-billion for 2009/10. Focus areas include improving the quality of schooling, providing transport and Grade R opportunities, a nutrition programme and improving the Grade-12 pass rate. Providing skills training to unqualified and underqualified teachers is another priority.
Schools
Since 2005, a number of schools in the Eastern Cape have celebrated their 150th anniversaries. Dale College in King William’s Town and Gill College in Somerset East both have sesquicentenary celebrations to look forward to in the next few years.
Many of the traditions of the formally white schools remain unchanged – Grahamstown rivals St Andrew’s College and Kingswood College played their 120th rugby match in 2009 – but the demographic make-up of the schools has changed dramatically to include historically disadvantaged population groups.
The former black schools set up by churches 150 years ago have not prospered, having been badly affected by the apartheid system, but they nonetheless managed to offer quality education in adverse times. Famous intellectuals like John Tengo Jabavu and freedom fighters like Nelson Mandela received their educational grounding at Healdtown, while other schools, like Lovedale College at Alice and St John’s College in Mthatha, also set high standards. These schools are the focus of the Historic Schools Restoration Project. One of the targeted schools – St Matthew’s in Keiskammahoek – achieved a 96% matriculation pass rate in 2007, with five A-symbols recorded for mathematics.
Private investors have an opportunity through partnerships with the Historic Schools Restoration Project to build schools that will nurture vital skills.
NMMU has six campuses (including one in George) and seven faculties. Its broad mix of qualifications is well illustrated in the faculties of Engineering, the Built Environment and Information Technology. WSU has four faculties: Education; Health Sciences; Business, Management Sciences and Law; and Science, Engineering and Technology.
Fort Hare University has five faculties, 10 schools and, at its East London campus, the Institute of Social and Economic Research. Rhodes University in Grahamstown has only 6 000 students, the majority of whom live in residences, but its academic and research staff of 320 has more than 265 masters and doctoral degrees between them. The university’s journalism school is a leader in its field.
FET and Abet
The Eastern Cape has eight further education and training (FET) colleges, most of which have more than one campus: Buffalo City, Port Elizabeth, Lovedale, King Hintsa, Ingwe, King Sabata, Ikhala and Eastcape Midlands College. The latter, for example, has sites in Uitenhage, Graaff-Reinet and Grahamstown.
Just over 20 000 students were enrolled at this level in the province in 2007. These colleges provide skills training to equip students for the workplace. Courses offered range from engineering and business and marketing studies to haircare, bricklaying and welding.
The provincial government has committed a sum of R1.5-billion over five years to aligning FET colleges more closely with the needs of the local economy, using the institution of ‘learnerships’ to bridge the divide between education and employment. The capital budget for 2009/10 will see R140-million spent on these vital institutions. The ongoing recapitalisation programme has seen to the renovation or building of 67 classrooms, 18 workshops, three resource centres, one administration centre and 60 ablution facilities. The Eastern Cape has 295 centres for adult basic education and training (Abet), at which 43 724 adult students attend classes.
ONLINE RESOURCES
Eastern Cape Department of Education: www.ecdoe.gov.za
Historic Schools Restoration Project: www.historicschools.org.za
National Departments of Basic Education and Higher Education: www.education.gov.za
Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University: www.nmmu.ac.za
Rhodes University: www.ru.ac.za
University of Fort Hare: www.ufh.ac.za
University of South Africa: www.unisa.ac.za
Walter Sisulu University: www.wsu.ac.za
