Views
2 years ago

Western Cape Business 2022

  • Text
  • Wwwglobalafricanetworkcom
  • Renewable
  • Atlantis
  • Global
  • Tourism
  • Economy
  • African
  • Economic
  • Sector
  • Western
  • Cape

OVERVIEW Education

OVERVIEW Education Online schools are booming. The new School for Climate Change at Stellenbosch University has faculty status. Credit: SU The University of Cape Town announced the establishment of an online high school in 2021 with virtual classes due to start in January 2022. The school hopes to close the opportunity gap for poor students in under-resourced areas. UCT is partnering with the Valenture Institute, a South African education technology company specialising in high school education. By September 2020, the school had received more than 4 000 applications. Online learning is one of the world’s fastest-growing sectors and the investment of -million by Construct in a new Cape Town office is evidence that the trend is well and truly established in the Western Cape. The Construct Learning Lab supports universities in Boston, Doha and Oxford as well as companies and government bodies. The company expects to increase its staff complement by 150 over three years. Tuberculosis continues to affect the lives of thousands of South Africans so the efforts of UCT Professor Keertan Dheda and a team of researchers is a most welcome and relevant application to local conditions. They have developed a new method of diagnosing tuberculosis from skin which is non-invasive, fast and highly accurate. Another relevant piece of work by a UCT academic won for Associate Professor Gina Ziervogel the institution’s Social Responsiveness Award. As a climate change adaption expert and geographer, Ziervogel played a key role in a team that advised the City of Cape Town during the severe drought SECTOR INSIGHT Stellenbosch University has established a School for Climate Studies. that threatened water supplies. An important contribution was to stress the importance of community understanding and involvement. She and renowned environmental journalist Leonie Joubert have produced a book called Day Zero: One city’s response to a record-breaking drought. Another climate adaptation has been observed at Stellenbosch University where a School for Climate Studies has been launched in response to growing interest in climate resilience and trying to move away from fossil fuels. It is the first such institution in the country to enjoy the status of faculty and it WESTERN CAPE BUSINESS 2022 40

OVERVIEW will work in an interdisciplinary way. The school has joined an illustrious set of international universities known as the Global University Alliance on Climate (GUAC) which includes the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Berkeley and Oxford and Cambridge. A R386-million campus is to be built by False Bay TVET in Mitchells Plain to serve that suburb, Strandfontein and surrounding areas. It will eventually cater for more than 5 000 students. The new Mitchells Plain Campus will complement the College’s existing campus presence in Khayelitsha, Fish Hoek, Westlake and Muizenberg. Programmes will be offered in tourism, creative media, business BPO, wholesale and retail and the services sectors. Bridging classes will also be presented for young people who do not meet entry requirements. The province’s I-CAN centres allow for public access to digital skills programmes, WiFi and business services. The centres are divided into zones (including Create, Study and Learn) and printing, graphic design and laminating services are available. The University of Cape Town has more than 21 500 students, 720 permanent staff and 39 A-rated researchers (40% of South Africa’s total). Stellenbosch University is linked to Stellenbosch’s growing reputation as a technology hub. The University of the Western Cape is home to several national research bodies. These three institutions, plus the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, produce approximately 12 000 science, technology, engineering and mathematics graduates every year and host 11 000 students from other African countries. University education is available in George through the Nelson Mandela University (NMU): Saasveld is home to the School of Natural Resource Management and the York Street Campus delivers courses in business and social science, accounting and business management. SARETEC offers industry-specific training in a new economic sector. The South African Renewable Energy Technology Centre is managed by the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (Bellville campus) but it collaborates with several other institutions and private companies. Unisa, the country’s biggest distance learning institution, has a campus in Cape Town and a service centre in George. Airports Company SA (ACSA), the City of Cape Town and the False Bay TVET College in Westlake have combined to offer residents of Blikkiesdorp a chance to learn skills in brick-laying, house-building, scaffolding and health and education. ACSA is investing R5-million in the 12-month certification project and the Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) will channel funds to False Bay College for training. Centres of Specialisation Programme A Centres of Specialisation Programme has been introduced by the Department of Higher Education and Training to tackle priority skills. The Swartklip campus mentioned above will focus on training riggers and mechanical fitters. With the oil and gas sector expected to grow rapidly in the near future, trained artisans can expect to find employment quickly. The College of Cape TVET is concentrating on plumbing and automotive motor mechanics. The College of Cape Town has seven campuses from the city centre to Guguletu and Wynberg. A new welding academy in Thornton was opened with support from the merSETA (Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services SETA). Northlink College is in the northern suburbs of Cape Town. Outside of the Cape metropole, Boland College looks after Stellenbosch, Worcester, Paarl and Caledon, while the Southern Cape College covers a wide area, from George to Beaufort West. The West Coast College also has a big catchment area. Boland College participates in an Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) run by the South African Chefs’ Association. ■ ONLINE RESOURCES Apprenticeship Game Changer: www.westerncape.gov.za Centres of Specialisation: www.dhet.gov.za SA Renewable Energy Technology Centre: www.saretec.org.za TVET colleges: www.tvetcolleges.co.za 41 WESTERN CAPE BUSINESS 2022

Other recent publications by Global Africa Network: