Onderrigleerfaktore bydraend tot studentetalslytasie in TBOO-Kolleges

Abstract

Technical and Vocational education and training in South Africa is influenced by a variety of factors. The increase in student numbers as a result of social, political, demographic as well as economic tendencies puts pressure on TVET Colleges to maintain a better throughput rate in order to deliver a larger potential workforce to the economy. Over the past two decades, enrolment at TVET Colleges has exploded, as vocational education has become a "sector of choice" for lower socio-economic ("under-represented" student) groups, since this will afford them an opportunity of furthering their studies. Taking into account this increase in student numbers, the following question may well be posed: How many of these students complete their studies successfully, and what can be regarded as teaching-learning factors possibly contributing to student dropout? Student dropout and the effects thereof are crucial in Higher Education, but more specifically in TVET Colleges. No single factor can guarantee academic success and/or throughput, since academic achievement depends on a combination of factors. Consequently, in the researchers' opinion, in order to limit student dropout it is essential to identify specific factors which may contribute to student dropout from TVET Colleges. Based on information available in the body of literature, and the lack of information directly related to the perceptions of students pertaining to potential factors contributing to student dropout, the problem statement and aims of this study are to investigate possible factors contributing to student dropout in a TVET College.