Abstract
BackgroundMuch like the rest of the world, student access and success are primary concerns of the South African higher education institutions, especially in the face of data that suggest that up to 50% of students do not successfully complete their course of study. Despite compulsory and free basic education for all South Africans, and increased government funding for education, there has been little impact on learner performance and the majority of primary schools remain poor. To improve access and success and in keeping with international practice, the Department of Nursing at the selected university of technology in 2013 offered for the first time the extended curriculum programme (ECP). To date, the impact of the programme has never been evaluated.ObjectivesThe aim of the study was to explore the experiences of the facilitators regarding ECP in the undergraduate nursing programme.MethodGuided by this, the current article describes a qualitative exploration of the experiences of six purposively selected facilitators regarding ECP in the Department of Nursing. In-depth interviews were conducted with the ECP facilitators. Tesch’s method was used to analyse the data.ResultsFour main themes emerged from the data: stigmatisation and lack of confidence, lack of self-will, additional workload of facilitators and gradual improvement of students’ performance. The participants reported that although students displayed and verbalised negative attitude towards the ECP, the performance of students showed gradual improvement and thus a need to continue to offer the programme to increase access and success in higher education institutions.ConclusionIt was concluded that ECP should continue to increase access and success in higher education institutions; however, there is a need for additional resources to support ECP students.
Highlights
Much like the rest of the world, student access and success are primary concerns of the South African higher education institutions, especially in the face of data that suggest that up to 50% of students do not successfully complete their course of study
It was concluded that extended curriculum programme (ECP) should continue to increase access and success in higher education institutions; there is a need for additional resources to support ECP students
Some literature (Department of Higher Education and Training [DHET] 2016:14; Lewin & Mawoyo 2014:12; National Planning Commission 2011:271; Wangenge-Ouma 2013:9; Weybright et al 2017:1) including the Council on Higher Education (CHE 2013:47) presents evidence that shows dropout and non-completion rates to be as high as 50% across many universities in South Africa
Summary
Much like the rest of the world, student access and success are primary concerns of the South African higher education institutions, especially in the face of data that suggest that up to 50% of students do not successfully complete their course of study. Student access and success are primary concerns of higher education institutions (HEIs) throughout the world (Lewin & Mawoyo 2014:3). This is unsurprising given the challenges that continue to be evident across global institutions. Some literature (Department of Higher Education and Training [DHET] 2016:14; Lewin & Mawoyo 2014:12; National Planning Commission 2011:271; Wangenge-Ouma 2013:9; Weybright et al 2017:1) including the Council on Higher Education (CHE 2013:47) presents evidence that shows dropout and non-completion rates to be as high as 50% across many universities in South Africa. The literature shows that South Africa’s average graduation rate is 15% (Lewin & Mawoyo 2014:12), and completion rates between white and black students are significantly different; black completion rate is less than half of the white completion rate (CHE 2013:59)
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