[Extract from message from Minister of Higher Education, Hon. Naledi Pandor]: It gives me great pleasure to endorse the 7th edition of Study South Africa. The International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA) has once again produced a publication that provides valuable insights and information about South African public universities and their place in the global higher education arena I welcome this publication and congratulate IEASA for its hard work in promoting our higher education institutions internationally. Study South Africa gives a comprehensive picture of higher education in our country. At a glance, the enquirer is able to see all that South African higher education has to offer diversity in terms of institutions, the wide range of affordable courses on offer, the international acceptability of South African qualifications as well as the rich multi-cultural experiences of our campuses. In short, the Guide provides a summary of everything that will assist the potential student to actualise his or her full potential. South African higher education is founded on broad social values such as respect for human life and dignity, commitment to equality and human rights, respect for diversity and nonsexism. Our education system seeks to construct citizens who are conscious of these values and therefore aware of their responsibilities in life and in the lives of others. These values are reflected in the diverse offerings by institutions covered in the Guide. In addition, we have specific mechanisms in place to facilitate internationalisation, and our immigration policies have been relaxed to make it easier for international students, academics and other higher education staff to enter the country and stay for the duration of their planned activity. We also subsidise students from the continent in terms of our policy on the state subsidisation of foreign students at higher education institutions. South Africa shares the global concern about the digital and information divide. We are of the view that access to information is empowering and would therefore like to see as many citizens of our country and the continent connected with the rest of the world, both digitally and in terms of knowledge. By staying in touch with the rest of the world through information sharing and exchange programmes, we minimise this information gap. It is for this reason, therefore, that the work of IEASA in the form of this publication is applauded, because it seeks to promote such exchanges and information sharing. There is no question that through internationalisation we can impact on our political, economic, cultural and social transformation. We can also address our skills shortage, build research capacity, enrich curricula and enhance the student experience. Collectively higher education institutions in South Africa offer an impressive array of information and communication technologies, well stocked and interconnected libraries and some scholars who are among the best in the world, making the country a destination of choice for both Africans and students from abroad. We aspire to make all our international partners, students and staff feel at home and content with what our institutions offer them, pleasant living and study or work environments. We want them to be proud of their association with South African higher education and be ambassadors for the system once they leave South Africa.

[Extract from message from Minister of Higher Education, Hon. Naledi Pandor]: It is a great pleasure for me to give a word of support to the sixth edition of Study South Africa: The Guide to South African Higher Education. I am particularly pleased with the effort and level of commitment shown by the International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA) in promoting South African higher education institutions internationally. The internationalisation of our higher education system is an acknowledgement that South African universities have a valuable contribution to make to the global higher education community, and in particular on the African continent. In this regard, I am pleased to note that of the 52,000 international students enrolled in our institutions, the majority come from the African continent. South Africa's higher education institutions offer unique benefits for international students, blending the experience of living in Africa with the opportunity to obtain internationally recognised qualifications at reasonably affordable costs. Also, high quality educational infrastructure, unique research opportunities, and a rich variety of cultures make South Africa one of the favourable study destinations for many international students. More than ever before our institutions are working hard to ensure that they provide high quality education, comparable to the best in the world. Our institutions continue to strive towards excellence and also to encourage international students, particularly those from Africa, upon completion of their studies to go back and make valuable contributions to the socio-economic development of their home countries. IEASA, Higher Education South Africa (HESA) and our universities have played a valuable role in reinforcing South Africa's international relations in academic and research exchange programmes. The Ministry would like to take this opportunity to commend IEASA and HESA for the dedicated efforts and targeted interventions made towards achieving our national priorities.

[Extract from message from Minister of Higher Education, Hon. Naledi Pandor]: The International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA) has produced yet another magnificent publication on higher education in South Africa It is an excellent source of information for everyone interested in universities and research in this country. It is especially useful for international students who plan to study in South Africa, and for people involved in developing international programmes. The theme of this edition, “The role of internationalisation in South Africa’s knowledge environment, is opportune at this juncture. It provides role-players in higher education with the opportunity to examine critical issues such as the place, purposes, benefits and limitations of internationalisation in the sector and the contribution internationalisation makes to the knowledge economy of our country. To participate effectively in the knowledge economy, South Africa has to grow its research base. For this, we need a pool of vibrant young researchers. South Africa is able to provide opportunities for groundbreaking research, and internationalisation provides students, academics and researchers with prospects to broaden the scope of their research. Exchange programmes, bilateral research connections, collaborative partnerships and other international links lend themselves to pathways through which local and international staff and students can expand their horizons and skills. In this way internationalisation can assist South Africa in realising its objectives. The South African higher education sector has identified priority areas in which it needs to develop human capital. They include science, technology and engineering. We can use international programmes to accelerate our capacity building plans and in particular the training and development of postgraduate students. Through research collaborations, for example, postgraduate students can be jointly trained and co-supervised with partners. This has beneficial outcomes for students, research partners and academics, as well as for the system as a whole. Aside from benefiting from sending our students abroad, South Africa also gains by receiving foreign students. International students bring with them different viewpoints, technologies and skills, which assist in developing new perspectives and techniques in South Africa Furthermore, cultural interaction enhances our own students' experiences. By studying together students come to understand and accept cultural differences and are enriched. These interactions, in turn, build positive relations which have positive long term benefits in developing economic and social links between people and countries, and which will help overcome newly surfaced problems of xenophobia in South Africa South Africa is currently host to more than 60,000 international students and many academics. The greatest proportion of international students and academics are from Africa particularly from the Southern African Development Community. As a host country we ensure high quality courses at universities, in order for our qualifications to be recognisable worldwide. South African institutions produce professionals who are highly sought- after around the world. This publication supports South Africa's education sector by providing information and by publicising our institutions and the sector as a whole. I would like to thank IEASA for the important role it plays in higher education. / 8th Edition

M.Ed. (Education) / Ever since its inception, the technical college has had the task of providing vocational education. In fact, it would not be incorrect to say that the provision of vocational education to the broad mass of the South African population has always been the raison d'etre of the technical college. The call for our education system to become more relevant and more oriented towards the world of work is becoming increasingly persistent. Consequently the contribution of the technical college towards relevant vocational education has recently been intensively researched in an attempt to establish the following: * its role in the provision of vocational education, and * whether it is in fact equipped to perform this very challenging function, taking into account the economic realities and manpower requirements of South Africa. It has been established beyond any doubt that an educational system which places the emphasis on teaching technical and vocational skills, from the primary to the secondary and tertiary levels, that would lead to meaningful employment, needs to be devised. Various investigations have been carried out, as overseas and different vocational education Urgent attention is being given to vocational. Towards this end locally as well systems studied. Education within the wide education family and all the vocational education experts of the various departments, in conjunction with commerce and industry and other interested parties, are at present fully involved in the joint planning and/or renewal of vocational education in the RSA. The concept of partnership, which has obtained a new meaning in education, has been a logical outcome of all these investigations, simposia, conferences and talks. Apart from the natural partnership of education, which include the organised teaching profession and the parent community, a new and powerful partnership is developing which includes the private as well as the public sector. A study· into the role and function of all the parties in this partnership has established that each partner has a particular place, role and function to fulfil in order to achieve a common goal, namely the provision of a relevantly trained manpower for South Africa. This study has made it abundantly clear that the contribution of each partner towards education and training is of vital importance and that not one of them can afford it any longer to remain uninvolved in vocational education which has become a national priority. The study has furthermore identified the technical college as a very significant partner in this partnership, along with the schools, the technikon, the university and the various training boards.

M.Ed.

M.Ed. / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Ed. / There is a great need for technical artisans in South Africa. Unfortunately the previous educational dispensation did not do much to remedy the situation, and now education, especially in the technological field, suffers a crisis as far as credibility, provision and relevance are concerned. Technology is changing every day, and to keep up to date, one must realise that learners do not choose technical subjects at school, or for that matter, do not pursue a career in technology. A qualitative approach was followed, interviews conducted at selected schools, and the result analysed to find out what the perceptions of learners are for not choosing technical subjects. The data yielded four categories, namely experience, ambition, status and technology. It seems that past experiences of parents cause learners not to go into technical careers for the perception exists that it entails is called "dirty work"; these jobs also have no status and learners would prefer to pursue university careers. Some recommendations are made, one being that the government of the day should take up the responsibility to get involved to make the technological field more attractive to prospective job seekers. Better salaries, especially for teachers, upgrading of schools and technical centres, better job opportunities and fighting perceptions of prejudice might solve this problem.

M.Ed. (Education Management) / Lecturers at Technical Colleges mostly come from the industrial sector and consequently they seldom have experience in teaching or the necessary qualifications to teach. The lecturer who has no formal teacher's training is confronted with the realities of the teaching profession and has now become part of this profession. Lecturers very seldom receive training prior to actually practising the profession. Methods have to be found to provide in-service training for lecturers at technical colleges with the view of preparing them for their task as lecturers. with this study an attempt has been made to establish a workable program to assist the deputy principal in the in-service training of lecturers at a technical college. The rapid technological development of the past few decades has caused a breath-taking expansion of knowledge and therefore the lecturer must become a lifelong student. The constant change and renewal of teaching methods, skills and techniques can only be addressed by effective in-service training. In-service training is therefore indispensable. The task of in-service training at the technical college is assigned to the deputy principal. He must first determine the type of staff required, then he has to recruit and select staff and finally see to it that new staff members are orientated. This is, however, merely the beginning of in-service training. The deputy principal must now design a well-planned programme of in-service training. He can in this case make use of a mentor and a Subject-head. The mentor must be an experienced and successful lecturer, seeing that he has to convey his knowledge and teaching experience to the beginner lecturer. The subject-head can also play an important and valuable role in the initial in-service training programme by conveying knowledge and expertise concerning teaching practice to the beginner-lecturer.

M.Ed. / The establishment and management of organisational culture can be seen as one of the most important management tasks in general, but also in technical colleges in particular. It is essential that the rector and his management team take note of the existence of college culture and manage it effectively. The purpose of this study is firstly to examine the nature and essence of college culture. The following conclusions were made from a literature study: • The rector plays an important roll in the establishment and maintenance of the college culture. • Due to the fixed structure and multi-ethnic composition of the college, subcultures exist. • The culture of a college can change, but it is a tiresome, timely and very expensive process. • In some cases it is not necessary to change the culture totally and a moderate adjustment is sufficient. The second purpose of the study is to examine how multiculturalism influences the culture of the college. Here the following findings are of importance: • The culture of the white staff is dominant at most technical colleges. • The different ethnical groups form subcultures which should be accommodated in one or another way. The empirical section as described in chapter four, is designed to determine the staff's experience of the college culture, as well as the rector's involvement in college culture. It consisted of a questionnaire which was completed by 363 lecturers and management staff members. A scientific analysis of the research results provided useful information from which certain conclusions and recommendations were made. Lastly, guidelines were designed which could be used to develop a strong organisational culture at technical colleges. With sufficient knowledge of the above the rector and management could use college culture as a convenient management instrument.

M.Tech. (Architectural Technology) / Curricular changes in architectural studies are necessary to allow for the incorporation of newer concepts and ideas which will equip graduates with the skills required for contemporary professional practice. This study was carried out to investigate the incorporation of sustainable building (SB) knowledge into the undergraduate curricula of Departments of Architecture at Universities of Technology in South Africa. The study rationale, current status of sustainable building teaching to diploma students, levels of awareness and training in sustainability as well as obstacles to the incorporation of SB into teaching curricula were investigated. A sample size of 8 architecture lecturers and 17 architecture students from three universities of technology, at third year and BTech levels were surveyed using a questionnaire. The third year and BTech classes were chosen for this survey because the researcher assumed that they have more knowledge about curricular structure and content than the junior classes (first and second year). Results showed that architecture departments in all the universities investigated currently teach sustainable building concepts (theory, design and technology) and that there appears to be a fair awareness of sustainability and green building practices among the lecturers and students. However, curricula in these universities were either inadequate or poorly conceptualised. General comments from respondents indicated that much more needs to be done to improve the teaching and learning of SB in the universities surveyed. The study showed that students are not adequately exposed to regular and affordable sustainability-related workshops, seminars, symposiums, excursions and field trips, possibly because of cost implications as these tend to be generally expensive. The findings also revealed among others, that the level of study at which SB is formally introduced to students, the number of lecturers involved, as well as the number of lecture hours for teaching SB, all varied considerably between the institutions. A benchmark exercise with the University of Maryland (UMD) in the USA revealed that structural and conceptual changes have to be made in the curricula and behavioural adjustments among students and lecturers in South African Universities of Technology are necessary to measure up with global trends.