Quality assurance of post-school engineering education and training programmes for adult learners

Abstract

This study investigated quality assurance in engineering education and training in TVET colleges in South Africa against an appropriate background of the continuous changes in higher education and training, as well as the labour market. There is a significant impact on the expectations placed on higher education due to global and national labour market requirements, movements and challenges that refer to economic pressure, the knowledge economy, as well as unemployment rates. A further impact on the higher education and training arena is the rapid expansion of and access by a diverse student population. In both private and public TVET education and training providers, quality assurance is a problematic and troublesome journey, because of the complex and burdensome education and training environment. Public and private TVET providers are substantial role players in TVET education and training provision. The stated intention is to create a regulating framework that is more enabling. The focus of this thesis was on public and private TVET providers at post-school level, where quality assurance in the current regime was analysed and contextualised to establish what is required and its impact on the operations public and private providers by regulatory frameworks. A mixed-methods research approach was used to investigate the experience of public and private TVET providers’ management, Education and Training Quality Assurance (ETQA) or Quality Assurance (QA) Managers, ETD practitioners lecturers/instructors and current students. This followed a document analysis on teaching and study aids. In conclusion, there is a call for a centralised oversight body with a far more streamlined system, better stakeholder consultation, less political interference with a deeper appreciation of the contributions both public and private TVET providers make to education and training of learners in South Africa.