Die plek en taak van die onderwyskollege in die Suid–Afrikaanse onderwysstelsel

Abstract

The correlation between the quality of a country's education and it's standard of civilization is universally acknowledged. Quality of education is, however, co-determined by the standard of teacher education. All institutions where teachers are trained, are therefore also responsible for the setting of an acceptable standard of civilization in a country. A College of Education is one such an institution. South Africa is at present undergoing change in different spheres of life. Constitutional and political reform also precipitates in the educational system. Educational renewal strategies, that inevitably follow such reforms eventually have to be implemented by the teaching corps. That, in tum sets specific demands for the training of teachers which takes place at Colleges of Education because a corps of sufficiently trained and motivated teachers can only be accomplished by relevant training. A study of the literature has brought to light that strategic planning is a management instrument par exellence, by which changes in either the internal or external environments of organizations can be adapted to. It is ascertained that educational systems are made up of certain universally accepted components. A specific framework for strategic planning has furthermore been decided upon, which can be used to determine the place and task of Colleges of Education in five other countries, namely England, The Netherlands, Germany, Japan and Nigeria. An investigation into the current position of Colleges of Education in South Africa is started with a description of the South African educational system, by which it is ascertained that the typical components of any national educational system, mentioned earlier, also appear here. A literature study about the historical development of the South African Colleges or Education revealed that, as far as control is concerned, for the past 65 years there has been a dispute whether Colleges of Education should either be controlled by the former provincial education departments or by universities. Concerning the recent past, divided control is still found in that each of the tanner own affairs education departments are in charge of its own separate Colleges of Education. They also function without any autonomy worth mentioning, because of their grouping with schools in one sector which encumbers tertiary status. Through an empirical study, done according to the steps of the framework for strategic planning mentioned earlier, the opinions of experts in the field of the place and task of Colleges of Education in the South African educational system, are obtained. Findings that are made after interpreting the data, are compared with information from the literature study in connection with the place and task of Colleges of Education in the five other countries mentioned. According to that, a scenario is sketched for the future place and task of Colleges of Education in the South African educational system.