Office of Principal

1. BOLAND COLLEGE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND TRAINING 4 February 2014 Office of Principal CORRIE MYBURGH

2. VISION To be a preferred and inclusive provider of post school education and training in order to fulfil the economic, social, techno-logical and environmental goals of the society • VALUES • Boland College values: • A culture of inclusivity • Openness and trans-parency • Efficient and ethical work habits • Team work and co-operation with our strategic partners • Enabling individuals to reach their full potential MISSION It is the mission of Boland College to respond to the training and development needs in the wider Boland region and to enhance employability by providing accredited quality vocational and occupational education and training.

3. Geographical location

4. Geographical location • Boland College serves the need of the widespread rural Boland region of the Western Cape, which includes the Cape Winelands, Helderberg, Breede River, Theewaterskloof, Overstrand and Agulhas Region. • The College has established main campuses in five towns: Caledon (with satellite campuses in Kleinmond, Bredasdorp and Hermanus), Paarl, Stellenbosch, Strand and Worcester. • All the campuses have land and buildings of a good standard, which also cater for learners with special needs. • Full-time, vocational and occupational programmes are offered by various modes of delivery.

5. Staff component: 31 January 2014 Full time Lecturing staff ministerial programmes: 178 Part time Lecturing staff: 16 • Total staff: 497 Top Management: 5 Full time Support staff: 268 Occupational facilitators: 30 at present

6. Sites of delivery of Boland College

7. Governance and Administration • Boland College had a fully functional Council until 31 December 2013 when the terms of office of all college council members terminated • The process of appointment of the five ministerial council seats by the Minister of Higher Education and Training is in process • Boland College decided to continue with council members who may serve a second term to govern the college in the interim after seeking advice from the office of the Minister – there are five members who may serve a second term and be re-appointed • Decisions taken by the council members will be ratified by the new council of 2014 • College Council, Academic Board and subcommittees of Council meet quarterly

8. Governance and Administration • All Council members (SRC President and Vice-President included) were inducted in accordance to responsibilities outlined in King III Report in 2013 • President and Vice-President (SRC) attend Academic Board and College Council meetings and report to Council on all issues relating to student affairs • SRC are consulted on budget matters

9. Governance and Administration • An effective QMS-system has been developed which provides a comprehensive library of college policies, procedures and other documents to govern, manage and administer the college operations • Boland College implements a Total Quality Management system. Processes for Benchmarking and Environmental Management were added in 2013. • A code of conduct for council members has been developed • Conflict of interest is managed at each council meeting • The college appointed an Internal Auditor and Chief Risk Officer to ensure that controls are developed to mitigate risks and ensure that managers take ownership of their processes • College Council is informed of the strategic risks of the college and the ten highest strategic risks are tabled at each meeting for discussion

10. Governance and Administration • Boland College implements sound financial systems and adhere to legislation and policies • Concerns for College Council and Management for a rural college regarding funding: • The national funding norms and standards do not make provision for student support services, residences (student accommodation) and capex needs • The DHET travel allowance of DHET Bursary Scheme is not sufficient resulting in Boland College having to use own funds to provide limited transport facilities for students to reach the most rural campuses. • The College Council and College Management held a strategic workshop in 2013 where the growth in student numbers, the utilisation and expanding of residences versus travel allowances/transport had been discussed

11. Governance and Administration • Student Support Services • Boland College values the students’ well-being whilst studying at the college • Training and capacity building programmes are offered • Leadership programmes are offered • Sports events are organised • Quarterly student parliament sessions with students • SRC is the voice of the students in governance and management structures

12. Student Enrolment 2014 Boland College launcheda vigorous advocacy campaign in 2013 to recruit students in neighbouring towns that want to study at an FET college • Successes • Larger number of students compared to 2013 registering during the prescribed registration period • Increase in students that qualify during the first round of assessment (no LPCAT necessary). The result is fewer academic high risk students in the system which will, with nurturing, result in larger numbers of students successfully completing programmes. • Larger number of students applied in the prescribed week of 2014 compared to 2013

13. Student enrolment 2014 • Many programmes are filled with students that are not academically high risk students and an increase in desire to study at an FET college is evident • Increase in interest in technical programmes (N1-N3) • Significant increase in interest in the Report 191 programmes on higher levels (N4-N6) • Classes started on the prescribed date (13 January 2014) • Students’ details were uploaded on the system on the day of their registration

14. Student Enrolment 2014 • Challenges • Academically more achieving students awaiting feedback on university and university of technology waiting list status, meaning they will only come to register after classes have already commenced and class groups are full • Increase in students registering once schools start • Matric results at many institutions not released on time leading to students arriving at campus and not able to complete the registration process as they did not have all the required documentation • The prescribed registration period (7 – 10 January) is too limited to enable all staff to participate in the registration process. The college experiences logistical problems when lecturing staff is removed from the registration process

16. Total registrations 2014 for First Trimester and Semester only

17. Administration of the Department of Higher Education and Training Bursary Scheme(NSFAS) • Process: • All decisions are taken by the Financial Aid Committee and recommendations made for the rectification by the Principal or by her delegate. The SRC President is a member of this committee. • All applications received are screened to validate academic deserving, financial neediness and the total household income. • All applicants are put through the means test. The means test has its challenges and we must look at rewriting the tool to exactly measure the aforementioned criteria. • A student who has outstanding documents is required to bring in all the documents before he or she can be considered for a bursary. A checklist has been developed for this process and all potential students receive this in advance.

18. Administration of Department of Higher Education and Training Bursary Scheme (NSFAS) • The primary focus should be on assisting students with the class fees and all other allowances (accommodation and transport) but final allocations can only be made based on available funding received from the bursary fund. • A student who has complied and whose application was approved by the committee receives a SOP to sign and is issued with a letter of award indicating the awarded amount and the different categories awarded. • The unsuccessful students are also informed and are issued with a letter which states the reason for the rejection • Bursary recipients are continuously monitored for their attendance and academic progress and a report is submitted to the relevant structure on a continuous basis.

19. Administration of Department of Higher Education and Training Bursary Scheme (NSFAS) • All records for bursaries are stored in a safe until after the external audit process and will then be archived. • The early registration period and the late arrival of the rules and guidelines made it extremely difficult for the successful implementation of the rules and guidelines processes. • The notion that college education is “free” reduces commitment and dedication from our students and many of them drop out for no apparent reason and show a lack of seriousness in their studies. • The new changes in the rules and guidelines had serious implications for Boland College. Transport is a serious concern for Boland College as most of our students come from the rural areas and smaller towns where public transport does not exist. Accommodation in the college residence is very limited and residence cost exceeds the amount allocated by the bursary resulting in students not having the means to pay the difference and not register or register and not paying their accounts, resulting in bad debt.

20. Credibility of Examinations • Communication to DHET Exam Department The Western Cape colleges submitted a document to the Department in 2013 to inform them of all challenges experienced in 2012. • There is definitely an improvement since 2012, but more capacity building should take place • The biggest challenge this year again was the many pending results which resulted in uncertainty for registration of students and an administrative nightmare • Currently there are 278 subject results pending at Boland College which is unacceptable • Appointment of markers: In some cases marking is done by inexperienced lecturing staff as well as unqualified staff for a specific subject • Quality of moderation is questionable

21. Partnerships with industries for funding for lecturer access to workplace exposure and student work integrated learning (WIL) • The College offers programmes in partnership with SETAs, Industries and Government • A database of employers are kept for monitoring of students in the work-place. A summary per campus is outlined below.

22. Partnerships with industries for funding for lecturer access to workplace exposure and student work integrated learning (WIL)

23. Partnerships with industries for funding for lecturer access to workplace exposure and student work integrated learning (WIL)

24. Partnerships with industries for funding for lecturer access to workplace exposure and student work integrated learning (WIL)

25. Work Integrated Learning (WIL) • Challenges: • There is currently a debate about the implementation of the Health and Safety Act or the Coida Act to register a student as an intern/apprenticeship. Boland College is implementing the following: • The workplace should register the student in terms of COIDA as the student would then be covered by COIDA. • Boland decided that the interns which the college accepted, will be registered under the Coida Act • Monitoring of students in the workplace will result in many challenges because the lecturer’s/programme manager’s work schedule will not always allow them to monitor students in the workplaces

26. Work Integrated Learning (WIL) • Successes • Setas support the college with funding • DHET establish a Work Integrated Forum for sharing best practices – Colleges will benefit from the initiative • The Western Cape Seta cluster forum performs a pivotal role in facilitating work places • QMS documents of Boland College assists the WIL department to be successful in service delivery • The Partnership with Agrimega provides the college access to the database and networks of various employers, not only in agriculture, but in al spheres of business

27. Student Housing • Boland College has residences (student accommodation) at four campuses. Accommodation, food services and cleaning services are provided. Student numbers in residences are: • Effective structures have been established to manage the residences and the students living in the residences • Residences with less than 60 students are managed by a supervisor and residences with more than 60 students are managed by a Superintendent and one supervisor • A Primaria and Primarius manage the students in conjunction with the superintendent and supervisor. The leaders form part of the SRC structure at the campus

28. Pass rate, Drop out and Throughput rate 2013

29. Pass rate, Drop out and Throughput rate 2013

30. Academic Improvement/Support Plan • The focus of the academic support plan is primarily on Mathematics, Mathematical Literacy (Numeracy) and Language across the curriculum (Literacy) • Identified subjects across programmes have also been supported where a need had been identified by the relevant Faculty. • The following are the core interventions: • Students are identified at registration when they write the PACE and CAT assessments. The results of these assessments are not used to screen the students but rather to enable the lecturers to correctly place the students and identify potential gaps for support. • One group of 30 students have been put through a bridging programme on NQF level 1 in preparation for the NCV level 2. They would most probably not have made it in the NCV curriculum without this assistance. Many of these students have now been placed in different NCV programmes

31. Academic Improvement/Support Plan • Appointment of Mathematics and Mathematical Literacy facilitators who are also assisted by class assistants (former students of the college) for the initial stages of the year. Language facilitators focus on the language competency (conversational competency). • Both lecturers and students are supported by additional learning resources as identified by them. • Students are also supported with food when they have to stay beyond the class times. • Challenges: • Students are not always willing to attend the extra classes. • Lecturers objecting to have facilitators or class assistance in their classes while they teach. • The academic support facilitators are very fluid, when they get a full-time job somewhere else they leave immediately.

32. Infrastructure plans 2014 • The insured value of the properties of Boland College at all sites is R698 400 000. It is therefore in the interest of the college to maintain the properties properly • Unfortunately the college is not receiving any budget for capex funding from the Department of Higher Education and Training • The college has a small budget from own funds for maintenance, but not adequate to do proper maintenance • The college developed a comprehensive infrastructure plan, but funding is a challenge for implementation

33. THANK YOU