What are Community Education and Training Colleges and who can benefit from skills training at CETCs?
What are CETCs?
Community Education and Training Colleges (CETCs) aim to provide quality learning opportunities for out-of-school youth, adults and disadvantaged people whose learning was affected negatively by past and current social inequalities and poverty. The further learning provided by these colleges will develop the skills needed to earn a reasonable income.
The existing state-funded Public Adult Learning Centres (PALCs) will be absorbed into the new CETCs. Nine CETCs were established in 2015 by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and others will be introduced in a phased approach. There is one in each province with multiple campuses across the provinces. The venues of the PALCs will be used by the CETCs, which include dedicated centres, community centres and school premises. The PALCs served 265 000 learners in 2011, but an enrolment of one million is planned for the CETCs for 2030.
Who will be trained at CETCs?
The CETCs will serve mainly the unemployed youth and adults who did not complete their schooling or who never attended school, and are therefore not catered for in the formal post-schooling system. Due to poor schooling and/or social conditions, they do not qualify to study at Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges or other formal training institutions.
CETCs will provide valuable learning opportunities for the youth who are not in employment, education or training (commonly referred to as ‘NEETs’) that make up a third of South Africa’s young people. The target group includes other people who are not studying, who were never employed or lost their jobs, and who don’t have the skills that are needed in the labour market or to generate income in the informal economy. These groups need to be skilled or re-skilled so that they can enter into meaningful employment or self-employment, or make a constructive contribution in local co-operatives.
Which programmes will be offered at CETCs, where can I find them, and who funds them?
The CETCs will offer a wide range of programmes that are described below.
General Education and Training Certificate (GETC) in ABET
The GETC in Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) will provide adult learners with fundamental knowledge and skills they can use to contribute to the community and/or to engage in income-generating activities. It will also enable them to access further learning programmes with Level 1 (i.e. Grade 9) on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) as an entry requirement. Learners can select to follow an academic or vocational specialisation in some of the following areas:
- Applied Agriculture and Agricultural Technology,
- Arts and Culture,
- Ancillary Health Care,
- Early Childhood Development (ECD),
- Economic and Management Sciences,
- Human and Social Sciences,
- Information Communication Technology (ICT),
- Natural Sciences,
- Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) and entrepreneurship,
- Technology,
- Travel and Tourism, or
- Wholesale and Retail.
National Senior Certificate (NSC)
The NSC is the school-leaving certificate on NQF Level 4, also known as Grade 12 or the Matric certificate. This certificate will enable learners to enrol for programmes at Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges or universities, if their grades meet the entry requirements for the specific programmes.
National Senior Certificate for Adults
This is similar to the NSC on NQF Level 4 described above, but it is designed to address the learning needs of adults.
Vocational programmes
The CETCs will offer informal programmes in a wide range of areas based on local needs and linked to local employment and community development opportunities. Many of the training programmes will be linked to the government’s infrastructure development programme and economic and social development initiatives, such as Community Development Works Programmes (CDWPs), programmes for Community Development Workers (CDWs) and Community Health Workers (CHWs), and the Expanded Public Works Programmes (EPWPs) described earlier in this section.
Short programmes will also be offered in the following areas, in addition to most of the areas listed under the GETC for ABET above:
- Arts and crafts,
- Civic and citizenship education, community mobilisation and organisation,
- Consumer education,
- Co-operatives and entrepreneurship,
- HIV/AIDS education,
- Home-based care,
- Learner driver’s licence,
- Life skills,
- Parenting and child care,
- Practical skills such as plumbing, construction, carpentry, electricity, welding, auto body repair and motor mechanics,
- School Governing Body training,
- Small-scale manufacturing, and
- Voter Education.
Some of these programmes will be delivered in partnership with local TVET colleges that provide classroom-based and practical workshop-based learning. Other programmes will be offered in collaboration with local authorities, government departments and other public entities responsible for promoting small businesses and co-operatives. Partnerships can also be established with community-owned or private institutions such as church-run education and training centres and industry.
Where can I find CETCs?
The table below provides the names and addresses of the CETCs established in the nine provinces in March 2015.
CETC | Address |
Free State Community Education and Training College | Mangaung University Community Partnership Programme 19057 Singonzo Street, Hamilton Bloemfontein |
Gauteng Community Education and Training College | Diepkloof Public Adult Learning Centre 722 Njambayi/ Shiruluni Street, Zone 1, Diepkloof Soweto |
Eastern Cape Community Education and Training College | Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Port Elizabeth |
KwaZulu-Natal Community Education and Training College | Durban University of Technology Indumiso Campus FJ Sithole Street, 3201 Edendale CC, Imbali Pietermaritzburg |
Limpopo Community Education and Training College | Pax College, 656 LS Valkop Farm Matlala Road Polokwane Municipality |
Mpumalanga Community Education and Training College | Nkangala TVET College, CN Mahlangu Campus Training Centre Road, Industrial Site Siyabuswa |
Northern Cape Community Education and Training College | Northern Cape Rural TVET College Upington Campus Steve Naude Street Upington |
North West Region Community Education and Training College | Mmakau ABET Project Stand No. 1783, Hebron |
Western Cape Community Education and Training College | ELGIN Learning Foundation No. 9 Appletizer Road Grabouw |
How much do these programmes cost and how are they funded?
These programmes are generally free as they are funded by the government. Some skills or occupational programmes could be funded by the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) or the National Skills Fund (NSF).