Daily Archives: April 18, 2012

Dispatches from South Africa: the case for vocational training

Posted in Adult Learning, Education, Learning, Skills Learning Programmes by

From International Hub – The Guardian - article by Sarah Duff

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Youth unemployment rates are worryingly high, yet education policy and culture make higher education a priority for students, says Sarah Duff.

Photograph: Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty Images

“The end of the first week of teaching in the South African academic year is an experience that any academic at any university around the world would recognise: the chaos of finding timetables and new lecture venues …

…In January, Angie Motshekga, the minister for basic education, announced with some fanfare that 70.2% of the pupils who sat the examinations for the national senior certificate – usually referred to as matric – passed. In a country with high levels of deprivation and poor resource allocation, this appears to be a magnificent achievement.

Unfortunately, the celebrations hid a few worrying facts. In 2011, according to the well-respected NGO, Equal Education, … of  the 923,463 pupils who began grade 1 in 2000, only 496,090 took matric in 2011, meaning that nearly half dropped out during their school career.” Therefore of … “all those who began school in 2000, the real matric pass rate falls to 38%. ”  This is indeed a very worrying fact.

“…despite the fact there are about 600,000 unemployed graduates in South Africa, university education is seen as the only pathway to employment. I would rather the department of higher education and training invested in FET colleges …”

However, I would like to point out that these moves are already taking place – see South African Education Green Paper. This is a major focus of Dr Nzimande, Minister of Education. The Green Paper is available for download at the following link which also has a great article: Scholarly Communication in Africa Programme: http://www.scaprogramme.org.za/2012/02/the-green-paper-for-post-school-education-and-training-in-south-africa/

To read more of Sarah Duff’s article follow the link below:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/higher-education-network-blog/2012/apr/18/south-africa-vocational-training?newsfeed=true (Accessed 18/04/2012).

Related articles

Social Learning Infographics

Posted in elearning, entrepreneurs, Infographics, Internet Marketing, Learning, Learning for Work, Workplace Learning by

The first graphic shows “What is Social Learning?” and is from SkillSoft on Overdrive Interactive: http://blog.ovrdrv.com/overdrive-develops-social-learning-infographic-for-skillsoft/ (Accessed 18/04/2012).

From Future Workplace:

http://futureworkplace.com/wp-content/uploads/Social-Learning-Infographic.pdf (Accessed 18/04/2012).

Follow this link to see the graphic: Social-Learning-Infographic

Related articles

Psychological Barriers to a Super Customer Experience

Posted in Customer Service by

Today I am sharing a post by Kate Nasser about bad choices that create bad customer experiences. I was interested in how she outlines the psychological aspect.

“Many of these bad choices are driven by psychological barriers. Awareness of these psychological syndromes gives managers, CSRs, reps & agents the ability to make better behavior choices and deliver super customer experience.”

“Which of these have you witnessed in service reps, agents, and managers?”

Cognitive Dissonance; Defense Mechanisms; Weak self-image; Overactive Ego.

For examples and to see more go to Kate Nasser: http://katenasser.com/super-customer-experience-psychological-barriers/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter (Accessed 18/04/2012).

Related articles: