Towards economic development: implementation of curriculum changes in technical colleges in Gauteng

Abstract

Technical colleges are pivotal in the integration process of education and training systems in South Africa. Technical colleges aim to train ar 1 equip individuals with skills and knowledge that will help them function and contribute adequately to the development of the country. In order to do this, the development and implementation of technical colleges' curriculum becomes critical. This study examines factors that influence changes in the curriculum development and implementation in technical colleges in Gauteng area. Two schools of thought. human capital theorists and social democratic proponent's views are reviewed. The human capital theorists argue that education is an investment that should yield economic benefits.They state that the curriculum should be influenced by economic and social factors. The social democratic proponents. for their part. argue that education has the social responsibility of developing individual potential. They state that the curriculum should be broad in order to cater for the diverse needs of the populace. Both the international and local literature has linked the demands for change in the curriculum to the advanced technological modes of production in the workplace. The local debates, though often a response to the international arguments, address a number of national issues such as equity, access, redistribution and economic growth. The research adopted a qualitative methodology. Data were collected through documents analysis and interviews. Six principals from technical colleges and representatives of three organisations: labour, employer and technical education development cooperation formed the research sample. The data were classified into three major ther u=s:the nature of the curriculum, curriculum development processes and implementation of the curriculum. Through these themes, the interviewees identified problems with the curriculum as outdated. irrelevant, inadequately funded and lacking autonomy. They recommended that in order for technical colleges to contribute adequately to economic and social development. there should be constant revision of the curriculum, staff development, fewer government restrictions, adequate provision of infrastructure and formation of partnerships amongst stakeholders