Tertiary education is no longer just for the favoured few
While South Africa’s youth is displaying a growing appetite for tertiary education, the sad reality is that universities simply aren’t able to accommodate the large number of students currently looking to further their education.
Our youth are desperate for opportunities, yet employers are saying that there is a marked shortage of skilled labour in the marketplace. Part of the problem is that the number of learning institutions, the diversity of courses offered, and sometimes even the quality of teaching, is grossly inadequate.
By 2030 the Department of Higher Education and Training would like to see enrollments in universities and other post-school institutions almost doubled.
This is a massive challenge, but it’s one that the South African College of Business (SACOB) is prepared to face head on.
Prospective students don’t always realize that there are other college options to consider. SACOB aims to change this thinking by encouraging enthusiasm among school leavers, and indeed anyone looking to further their studies, for alternative education facilities. It plans on doing this by bridging the gap between campus and correspondence education.
SACOB believes that Lecturer-Led Education is the cornerstone of good teaching, and by melding traditional distance learning with modern technology they’ve ensured just that. Their user-friendly website is such that a few simple clicks is all it will take for the lecturer to be brought directly into the student’s living room.
Video and online lectures, learner management systems, online assessments, innovative student support centres, DVD’s, instant messaging and forums; all of these combine to provide the student with everything he or she needs to enjoy a dynamic and interactive learning experience.
Traditional study aids will still be available, but the use of digital technology just makes everything that much more accessible for the student. Some may argue that this may exclude thousands of students without access to the Internet, but with technological advancement progressing so rapidly, SACOB principal Stacey Henn believes that before long townships like Soweto will be connected to a broadband computer network and tablet pc’s will become as ubiquitous as cell phones.
SACOB may be the new kid on the block in SA’s education scene but its standards, partners and education providers are anything but. With main players such as the Institute of Certified Bookkeepers, the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, and the Institute of Business Studies (which falls under the Chartered Secretaries Southern Africa) in its corner, candidates have a smorgasbord of accredited business education courses to choose from.
SACOB’s list of accreditations is growing fast. “Our goal is to become Africa’s leading business school,” says Henn.