SHUKELA TRAINING CENTRE BECOMING A VITAL COG IN THE PILOT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF BASIC EDUCATION THREE-STREAM MODEL
Shukela Training Centre (STC) was one of the three institutions appointed by the KZN Department of Basic Education to pilot the Three-Stream Model of the department during the June 2024 school holidays.
The Three-Stream Model is aimed at providing school learners an opportunity to choose the training pathway they want to follow after Grade 9. These streams could be Academic Pathway (Grades 10-12 NSC), Technical Vocational Pathway (Grades 10- 12 NSC) or Technical Occupational Pathway (NCV 1-3 & NSC).
The Academic Pathway is what is currently offered to Grades R to 9 plus Grades 10 to 12 leading to a National Senior Certificate. Notable about the current pathway is that it is highly theoretical and articulates mainly to higher education.
On the other hand, the Occupational Pathway is a Four -Year curriculum to be offered at schools of skill with 25% of training being theoretical and 75% being practical. This pathway would include Agricultural Studies, Art and Crafts, Civil Technology subjects like Bricklaying & Plastering/Plumbing/Woodworking and Timber, Consumer Studies, Early Childhood Development, Hospitality Studies, Electrical and Mechanical Technology among others.
The Vocational Pathway is currently offered to Grades 10 to 12 in Technical High Schools leading to a National Senior Certificate and is both theoretical and practical in nature. This pathway articulates into the world of work or self-employment and/or Higher Education Programmes. The focus of this pathway will be the production of artisans.
The STC was thus involved in the training of Grade 10 educators drawn from various districts of KZN together with Damarosa and Meadowlands Technical Vocational High Schools based in Chatsworth who trained in the trades that STC does not offer.
The STC was appointed to train 101 Electrical educators and 132 Mechanical educators over a period of two weeks. The Project was a great success with STC making a profit of about R800k from both training, accommodation and meals. The STC had to use external accommodation facilities given that the residents were full to capacity.