Financing Vocational Education and Training in South Africa

Abstract

Despite a generally high participation rate in education in South Africa, participation in vocational education and training (VET) is low. The author of this chapter perceives poor quality in education and training as a problem. Skill shortages exist in many fields, including nursing, education and engineering, but unemployment is high. The author discusses South Africa's spending policies with respect to VET. The two parts of the sector discussed are skills development and further education and training (FET) colleges and the links between them. A description of the financing of the National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) through employee payroll tax is given, as is a description of financing the public FET college sector. Five key policy questions are discussed. The author concludes that linking the two systems would raise both the quality and the quantity of vocational training.