Hon Speaker, hon members and our special guests in the gallery, it is a great pleasure for me to address this House on the Further Education and Training Colleges Amendment Bill.
I want to thank the members of the portfolio committee, led by the chairperson, Mr Malale, for their patience and understanding during the public hearings, and also for allowing space to introduce this amendment during this parliamentary cycle.
Mr Speaker, the Further Education and Training Colleges Amendment Bill is another step towards developing the Higher Education and Training legislative framework into a system that addresses the needs of adult postschool education in a more coherent manner.
The amendment is in line with the perspectives outlined in the Green Paper for Postschool Education and Training, which seeks to confront the many challenges facing youth and adults postschool, and which includes the necessity to expand postschool provision to improve access, strengthen the institutions to improve quality, and set out a vision for a more articulated and co-ordinated postschool education and training system.
Hon Speaker and members, the primary aim of this Bill is to do three main things. Firstly, it is to redefine what has normally been referred to as Further Education and Training colleges as vocational colleges, which underlines the necessity to train for the workplace, as well as to train responsible citizens. It also introduces, over and above these vocational colleges, a new college type which transforms Adult Basic Education and Training centres into Community Education and Training colleges. Both these colleges will offer NQF levels 1 to 4, with the FET colleges - the new vocational colleges - offering up to level 5. This is very important in regard to expanding postschool education and training opportunities for our youth and adults.
This Bill also introduces a very important institute called the South African Institute for Vocational and Continuing Education and Training. The aims of this institute will essentially be, amongst other things, to conduct research, provide support, and facilitate the training of college lecturers. It will also be at the centre of raising quality and the standard of teaching and learning in our FET colleges, now to be known as Vocational Education and Training colleges.
We believe that an institute of this nature is essential and central in addressing the many weaknesses that we have in our colleges at this time. Such an institute will be made up of both stakeholders, including labour, business and others, and experts who have knowledge of vocational and continuing education and training.
We are of the view, therefore, that this measure is a very important component of creating this vibrant postschool education and training system. Ordinarily, we would have expected all the parties and all members to support an intervention of this nature, as it is critical in addressing the many problems that we have inherited from the past, as well as in increasing opportunities, especially for those members of our community who were denied such opportunities in the past. Thank you very much.