YCL+Free+Education+Campaign+FET+discussion+paper



Discussion paper for conceptual framework on the task of YCL SA, Gauteng Province in the Further Education and Training Sector – for advancing the free education campaign! This paper was presented in the Gauteng PEC meeting held on the 21st January 2006 and it was agreed that it should be re-circulated for further internal discussions, which would include branches to a further reach.


 * Free Education Campaign – Tackling Further Education and Training Sector**
 * Young Communist League of South Africa, Gauteng Province**


 * 1.** **Brief Situational Condition in FET Institutions**

The state has a commitment to make Further Education and Training (FET) readily available and accessible. In our view this commitment enshrines the creation of a freedom to FET, its institutions and all programmes they provide including post FET programmes, and any institutions that provide FET including institutions of Higher Education (HE).

This commitment has yet to be realised in concrete action and material outcomes. Barriers of conditions for access to public FET institutions apply. Admission is qualified among other criteria first of all by first come first serve admission practice based upon payment of the total amount of fees for a student’s chosen programme of study or training level. These fees are increased almost every year, with most FET institutions still struggling to strike a balance between the fees of their historically black and white campuses to achieve uniformity after a merger. In this situation still, other FET institutions simply assumed the high fees of their historically white campuses to supersede and override comparatively lower fees that had been in historically black campuses. These barriers are worse off by private providers. Their existence and so is their drive, above anything else is just profit. They consider students exactly in a neo-liberal context as clients in a market, which could do much better profits should it be deregulated. On the other hand of this crisis and not isolated are HE institutions providing programmes that fall within the FET band.

Barriers to a freedom to FET, its institutions and all programmes they provide including post FET programmes are not only limited to a barricaded access for the poor by ever increasing fees, first come first serve admission practice based upon total on cash payment first, absence of student financial aid scheme to FET institutions by government, other financial forms of exclusion including lack of bursaries in general and especially by the private sector.

In our FET institutions there is a greater number of curriculum related barriers. For instance, there are just only fewer areas, or fields or disciplines of human resource development through education and training for students to choose from. Although employment is not the only immediate path for graduates from FET institutions, fewer education and training qualifications programmes leads to, or perhaps had already led to a situation whereby a higher number of graduates from FET institutions are jobless or struggling to make ends meet. In addition to restructuring curriculum and especially the arrangement of education and training programmes, there is a wide range of education and training qualifications programmes for our economy the FET institutions could or should provide. It is significant that such a provision should also take into consideration a progressive movement towards filling the gap of any deemed shortage of skills.

Freed education takes into account and in whole other areas of human development. A narrow education system is a serious barrier itself to human resource development. FET institutions are in this situation in general. Young people and others as students in FET institutions should not be treated to be only there in the sense of human organisms to be modified so that they acquire knowledge, skills and handiness in a given branch of industry, and become labour-power of a special kind. Their development through FET institutions should not be conducted in a style that detaches their student life from the whole movement of society, more especially as it relates to sports, arts, culture and involvement in steering society to a just destination. The low, poor morale and lack of facilities for sports, arts and culture and lack of support to student affairs activities (including student political formations) in FET institutions should not continue unattended. There are people with a variety of potentials in FET institutions and these should be organised, developed, guided and contributed towards a prosperous South Africa.

Our society needs a freed education and training system from capitalistic stereotypes. These stereotypes detach student life from the whole movement of society, while concentrating on producing labourers having no means of production of their own other than the labour power bought under conditions of exploitation by capitalists. Among the instruments of this tendency is aggressive de-politicisation of almost everything including socio-politico-economic issues such as fees, lack of sport, arts and culture, and learner support facilities! There is also a tendency to create apathy by suppressing the freedom of association in campuses by means of, directly or indirectly institutional statutes.


 * 2.** **Minimum programme**

q **Embarking upon FET institutions**

The Young Communist League of South Africa (YCL SA) Gauteng province will deploy its provincial leaders to each FET institution for a struggle to free education. These cadres will lead district standing task teams to each FET institution. The task teams will consist of district leaders deployed to each FET campus.

The objectives for this deployment are, but not limited to the following.

(a) To embark on the right to learn campaign in these institutions and campuses. (b) To lead struggles against all barriers reproducing and sustaining financial exclusion. (c) To pursue for the restructuring and widening of education and training programmes and curriculum in general. This would include the building of a conducive learning environment as well and striving for student support facilities (libraries, laboratories, workshops, and etc) in campuses. (d) To pursue for the organisation of sports, arts, culture and student affairs activities within the institutions and their entire education and training sector. (e) To pursue the historic mission for the realisation of the objectives of the national democratic revolution in campuses. (f) During the period of government elections campaign for the victory of the African National Congress (ANC) – Alliance. (g) To give attention and strategic leadership to issues affecting the quality of education and training, and quality assurance in general. Attention to qualifications of educators will fall within the pursued of this objective while at the same time giving attention to their continuous capacity building. The same will apply to the qualifications of other sections of staff. This objective includes giving attention to issues affecting workers in these campuses, young workers in particular. The Young Communist League of SA will also focus attention to unionisation of workers in this sector. (h) YCL SA will pursue these objectives on a continuous and consistent basis throughout every year and on all registrations in January, May, July and September in FET institutions. Another point of attention for YCL SA would be that period when most governing councils mainly sit to increase fees – second half of every year. (i) To facilitate capacity building for student leaders and ultimately establish structures of the Young Communist League of South Africa in campuses; build campus relationship with the South African Student Congress (SASCO) and any progressive youth alliance formation.

q Embarking upon the FET sector and Learnerships

The provincial leadership of the Young Communist League will engage on the following, but not limited to:

(a) Engage the provincial government about policy matters in the FET sector, which would include issues relating to access, funding, governance, administration and so on. (b) Pursue for uniting students and building a stronger and effective South African Colleges Student Association (SACSA) – student union in this sector. (c) Engage with the Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) in the province for a minimum programme for further transformation of the FET sector. (d) Initiate a campaign on the conditions of Learnerships to tackle its exploitation mainly by the private sector, to ensure within the context of YCL SA jobs for youth campaign that more relevant Learneships are available. (e) Engage with other stakeholders in the FET sector for the objectives of a readily available and accessible education and training and for the organisation of student affairs in general.


 * For inputs and further information contact**
 * Mashilo, Alex Mohubetswane**
 * 082 9200 308**
 * amashilo@ford.com**

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