The professional development of campus managers project is aimed at building the capacity of technical vocational education and training (TVET) campus managers and professionalising their roles and functions. It has also enabled a bond of comradery to develop between all campus managers across the country.

Public TVET colleges have a significant role in addressing the lack of much-needed skills in South Africa. However, there remains a serious blockage in the TVET college system of not producing sufficient quality in the delivery of teaching and learning.

While the reasons for this situation are complex and multifaceted, one of the central reasons for the poor delivery is the gap in leadership and management at the site of delivery of teaching and learning – the campus.

If targeted skills needs are to be delivered by the 50 public TVET colleges, there must be effective management and functionality at the 264 campuses. Without a capable and committed leadership and management at campus level, there can be little progress towards the realisation of the TVET colleges’ mandate: to be the vehicle for national economic and social development.

It is on this basis the project was initiated – to build the capacity of TVET campus managers – and funded by the National Skills Fund (NSF) for R7,4 million over three years.

The project, at the closeout stage by the end of the review year, has made significant achievements throughout its three phases.

In the first phase, 40 campus managers from mainly rural areas participated in three blocks of intensive residential training. This was followed by onsite coaching and mentoring in critical areas identified by principals and the department. Tailored campus improvement plans (CIPs) were also developed and campus managers received onsite support in implementing their CIPs.

A total of 164 campus managers from all 50 colleges were trained as part of the Phase-2 rollout. The training was grouped into seven clusters and rolled out simultaneously in seven cities (Polokwane, Witbank, Newcastle, Port Shepstone, Port Elizabeth, Kimberley and Rustenburg). The training focussed on building partnerships, ensuring that the physical environment is conducive to teaching and learning, managing effective campus teaching and learning, as well as building student-centred campuses.

All 264 TVET campus managers were trained on the module – the campus manager as an agent of change – as part of Phase 3, the final rollout. The training comprised a four-day residential training session aimed at understanding the campus manager’s role in improving students’ academic results.

Highlights in the three phases

• Trained trainers from TVET colleges: A total of 15 principals, 26 deputy principals and seven senior managers representing all nine provinces.
• Trained to monitor and support: A total of 18 regional officials, 50 deputy principals (academic) and 50 principals.
• Established communities of practice: Daily online sharing and support platform developed for 250 campus managers at no cost to the department.
• Administrators developed as coordinators: Eight young administrators from nine TVET colleges in seven provinces were trained to manage the coordination and logistics of training at different clusters.
• Young managers given international experience: A total of 17 campus managers, including deputy principals (academic), acting principals and student support services managers, went on a learning trip to China. The relatively young group, aged below 40 years, were given exposure to international practices and networks to build future partnerships for their colleges.
• Six young postgraduates trained, mentored and coached: These young people are now permanently employed at the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations, the Department of Basic Education, the TVET Youth and Development Directorate within the department, Telkom and the NSF.
• The TVET capacity is being strengthened at all levels through this programme. No consultants were used on the project. All the training was conceptualised and developed by experts with good standards of practice within the TVET college system. By the end of the review year, the modules developed over the three phases were being modified to align with university qualifications.

This article was published in the NSF 2018/19 Annual Report