South African Business 2023

OVERVIEW Education and

OVERVIEW Education and skills training Private education companies are growing JSE-listed companies are doing well in the education sector. ADvTech reported a 22% increase in operating profit in the year to December 2021 and Curro Holdings’ revenue increased by 15.5% to R2.06-billion for the six months to the end of June 2022. With brands such as Crawford, Trinity House, Crawford House, Abbotts College, Varsity College and Vega in its stable, ADvTech made that operating profit of R1.1-billion on increased revenues of R5.9-billion. Enrolments in South African schools run by the company rose by 8% (to 29 599) and by just over 7 000 in other African countries, or 10%. The group intends increasing its focus on the rest of Africa in the years ahead. Curro Holdings, which runs 181 schools, increased pupil numbers by 66 167 for the six months to June 2022. This despite an increase in tuition fees of 13.3%. Curro has been expanding steadily since its establishment in 1998, and the same trend is evident in the trajectory of its tertiary offshoot, Stadio Holdings. Stadio Holdings listed separately for the first time in 2017 and now has more than 41 000 students registered across three institutions. Milpark Education is the online offering, AFDA offers accredited degrees and higher certificates in film, performance, entertainment, business and technology while Stadio Higher Education Institution is the result of the merger of Southern Business School, Embury Institute for Higher Education, LISOF and Prestige Academy. Interim results published by Stadio Holdings in August 2022 reported that profit after tax rose by 23.5%, to R105-million. A R200-million Stadio campus was opened in Centurion in Gauteng early in 2022. Skills In November 2023, the Decade of the Artisan Programme will have run its course. The Department of Higher Education and Training set targets for skilled graduates and established Centres of Specialisation at Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges around the country. For example, False Bay TVET College was appointed as the Centre of Specialisation in Rigging and Mechanical Fitting, both skills highly relevant to the maritime industry. The Eastern Cape SECTOR INSIGHT The Decade of the Artisan is drawing to a close. Stadio’s new campus in Centurion. Midlands TVET College specialises in welding and the Gert Sibande TVET College in Mpumalanga is the institution that focusses on the skills of a millwright. Centres of Specialisation aim to produce: • A skilled and capable workforce • Increased availability of intermediate-level technical skills • Increased delivery of qualified artisans in 13 priority trades Speaking at the opening ceremony of the WorldSkills South Africa (WSZA) National Competition in KwaZulu-Natal in June 2022, Higher Education and Training Minister Dr Blade Nzimande called on principals SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2023 78

OVERVIEW of TVET colleges to prioritise work placements for students. He said, “We have now incorporated into our plans that all college principals must have the issue of work placement and partnership with industry in their performance agreements. Any college principal who does not promote work placement has no place in our TVET college system.” Venetia Diamond Mine in the far north of Limpopo is in the process of transitioning from surface to underground mining and that requires a new set of skills from employees and contractors. Six simulators are being installed at a new training centre for the mine, covering aspects such as drills and bolters while virtual reality will be deployed for a virtual blast wall. More than 300 training modules will be available. Universities There are three types of public universities in South Africa: traditional universities, which are academic in focus and award degrees; universities of technology (previously “technikons”), which have a vocational emphasis and can award diplomas and certificates; and comprehensive universities which offer a combination of both types of qualification and can confer degrees and diplomas. The addition of two universities in the provinces of Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape means that every South African province now has a university. In Mbombela, the phase of using old buildings has come to an end for the University of Mpumalanga. Now a striking new architectural addition has been added to the cityscape on a hill north of the Crocodile River: a complex of department headquarters and residence buildings ONLINE RESOURCES Centres of Specialisation: www.dhet.gov.za National Department of Science and Innovation: www.dst.gov.za Sol Plaatje University: www.spu.ac.za TVET colleges: www.tvetcolleges.co.za University of Mpumalanga: www.ump.ac.za is taking shape as a new home to the province’s first university. By building on existing institutions such as teacher training colleges, the university has progressively offered more courses and taken on more students over the last few years. The official launch was in October 2013, with the first cohort of 169 students registered in just three programmes in 2014. By 2020, the university was offering 26 qualifications to 4 200 students.The university currently offers 48 programmes in three faculties: Education; Agriculture and Natural Sciences; and Economics and Business Sciences. There are plans to add new programmes at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and to establish the faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the School of Law. By 2024, the plan is to offer approximately 70 qualifications to over 8 000 students. University of Mpumalanga students have distinguished themselves in competitions run by ENACTUS, an international organisation that works with leaders in business and higher education to mobilise university students to make a difference in their communities while developing the skills to become sociallyresponsible business leaders The first intake of students at the Kimberley campus of Sol Plaatje University in 2014 was 124. At the 2019 graduation ceremony, 319 students were congratulated and when classes began for the 2020 academic year, just over 700 first-time students enrolled. In 2022, the SPU expects to have in the region of 3 479 students, of which 339 will be new postgraduate students. The academic programme is housed in four schools: Education; Humanities; Natural and Applied Sciences; Economic and Management Sciences. Bachelor’s degrees are offered in education, science, science in data, ICT, heritage studies, commerce and arts. A diploma in retail business management (three years) and a one-year higher certificate in heritage studies completes the prospectus. In 2022 the university tweaked its brand, with an internal logo falling away and the colour black being replaced by navy blue, joining red, orange and beige as the corporate colours. ■ 79 SOUTH AFRICAN BUSINESS 2023