South African government to re-open former Teacher Training Colleges

In a bid to produce more teachers in South Africa the government’s Higher Education and Training Department is planning to open three former teacher training colleges next year, Mr Blade Nzimande, Minister of Higher Education and Training recently announced in his departments budget vote in parliament. The colleges are the Ndebele College Campus in Mpumalanga for foundation phase teacher education, and one former teacher training college each in Kwa-Zulu Natal and the Eastern Cape.

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South Africa plans to open 2 new universities

Mr Blade Nzimande, South African Minister of Higher Education and Training, recently announced that two new universities are expected to open in South Africa, one in the Mpumalanga province and the other in the Northern Cape Province. Two task teams investigated the appropriate models for these new universities and recommended possible sites to be seats of these universities. Mr Nzimande will announce the seat of learning of each new institution in three months time. The government plans to have the first intake of these tow new universities at the start of 2014.

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South Africa plans to have 1 million students within 2 years

The South African government wants to see that more than a million students are enrolled at universities across South Africa within 2 years.

Approximately 840 000 students were enrolled at South African universities in 2010 according to Ms Kirti Menon, acting deputy director-general for universities in the Department of Higher Education and Training in a recent meeting with the parliamentary portfolio committee on higher education. The final number should be known soon.

“The South African government is working on the establishment of 2 new tertiary institutions, one in the Northern Cape and one in Mpumalanga” Menon said.

According to Menon the national treasurer also made R5, 1 billion avaible over 3 years for students’ final year studies. These funds will be part of the national bursary scheme, NFSAS.

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Free Grade R access for Mpumalanga schools

The Mpumalanga government plans to make Grade R (reception year) free and compulsory in all primary schools in the province by 2014. To read more go to Sydney Masinga’s article on allAfrica.com by Clicking Here!

South Africa to get 2 new universities

“Two of South Africa’s provinces are to get new universities”, Mary Metcalfe, Director-General of the Department of Higher Education and Training said recently. These are Northern Cape and Mpumalanga which are the only two of nine provinces that do not have public universities.

“There is no plan or time frame (but there is) political commitment,” said Metcalfe. The two provinces also have national institutes of higher education and the government have been working on increasing their capacity.

The South African Parliament’s portfolio committee on higher education will start work on exploring the idea and will look at the practicalities, from the number of potential students and the type of programmes to be offered, to garnering a sense of what work the department had already done.
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