Perceptions of Rural Further Education and Training (FET) College Students Towards Placement at Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMES): The South African Rural Perspective

Abstract

The provision of students with curriculum related practical experience during studies or after completion of studies is becoming a staple of the twenty-first century education. In the South African education system, various terms are used for this practice, such as experiential training, learnership, internship and Work Integrated Learning (WIL). Following the inception of FET colleges sector, a new term was coined, the Workplace Based Experience (WBE). It is distinguished by its flexibility as students are not required as is the common practice, to be placed at well-known private businesses or public institutions. Students can be placed at small businesses. Flexible as it is, FET colleges in rural areas where business is dominated by Small Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs), students are averse to placement at these businesses. This paper explores the causes of these students’ aversion of placement at SMMEs in order to come up with measures to change the perceptions and improve work-placement rate. Data was collected by means of a Researcher journal and Interviews with students at the two campuses of a rural FET college in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. The constant comparative method was used to analyse data. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n20p683