A four-year programme to recapitalize Further Education and Training (FET) colleges comes to an end on March 31, with the end of the 2008/09 financial year.

The aim of the national programme has been to ensure that FET colleges meet the growing need for vocational and technical training in the country.

About 60 000 students attend six FET colleges operating from 37 campuses across the Western Cape.

The national programme represents an investment of R227 million over the past four years in the province.

The project has included developing and implementing 12 new National Certificate (Vocational) (NCV) study programmes, building and upgrading workshops and classrooms, computer facilities, administration systems and staff training.

The NCV programmes provide three-year qualifications with formal exit opportunities after each year. In other words, a vocational certificate will be issued for each successfully completed year.

The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) introduced the first year in 2007, which means that students will complete the third-year level for the first time in 2009.

The third-year level, on Level 4 of the National Qualifications Framework, is equivalent to matric. The NCV programmes are specifically designed to meet the needs of the Western Cape economy and to equip students for employment.

Areas covered include Administration, Finance, Information Technology, Marketing, Management, Building and Civil Construction, Engineering and related design, Electrical Infrastructure Construction, Primary Agriculture, Hospitality, Tourism and Safety in Society.

FET colleges offer a wide range of courses, in addition to NCV programmes. These range from short courses to programmes over a number of years. Students can apply for bursaries at the colleges.

Enrolment and graduation figures reflect the growing popularity of FET college study. For example, the number of students who successfully completed full qualifications at FET colleges in the Western Cape grew from 4 444 in 2004 to 22 661 in 2007, an increase of 410%.

The WCED welcomes this trend, because it reflects the growing attraction of FET college qualifications and efforts to achieve a better balance between enrolment for FET programmes at schools and colleges.