Curriculum responsiveness in FET colleges

The global shift from vocational education and training (VET) to further education and training (FET) is more than a name change. It heralds a new strategic direction, one of educational inclusion that draws the pre-employed, employed and unemployed into multi-purpose colleges providing a far wider range of courses and programmes than they did in the past. While the Curriculum 2005 debate has been raging in the primary and secondary schools in South Africa, the FET sector has been focused on the low pass and throughput rates; the limited range of programmes offered; and the restrictive nature of centrally administered curricula. A further concern has been with the need to include work experience in the curriculum. Recent policy changes in South Africa have set out the mandate of colleges in both institutional and curriculum terms. Colleges must prepare students for work under global and local economic and labour market conditions that no longer guarantee jobs. Curriculum Responsiveness identifies salient themes in curriculum change in FET Colleges. Particular attention is paid to lessons learned and problems experienced in other countries that are applicable to the current South African context. It is hoped that the book contributes to building an understanding of the complexity of the challenges facing curriculum development in a sector described as fragmented and without a common institutional character and identity.