Studying and Succeeding at College: Study Skills, NSFAS and Student Life

The one thing

Choose a programme you can finish, at a college that is registered, for work you want to do. The right choice depends on your results, your interests, your money and your family’s needs, and it is worth a few weeks of careful checking before you sign anything. Many students lose a year, or money, because they took the first place offered, chose a programme that did not suit them, or paid a college that was not registered. A little research, a visit and a few questions prevent all three. §1.3 covers the programmes, §1.4 choosing, and §1.5 checking a college.

What College Offers

Further study after school, or later in life, can give you:

• a qualification that employers recognise, such as a National Certificate, an N Diploma or an occupational certificate;
• practical skills in a workshop, kitchen, salon, office or laboratory;
• a route to a trade, through an occupational programme or an N-level programme and a trade test;
• a step to further study, at a higher level or at a university of technology;
• people and confidence: lecturers, classmates and a working routine.

College also asks something of you. A full-time programme is like a job: about 35 to 45 hours a week of classes, practicals and your own study. A part-time student who works needs to find 10 to 20 hours a week beside work and family. Most students who leave without finishing do not leave because the work is too hard; they leave because of money, travel, family problems, or because they never learned how to study on their own. This book is about all of those.

Worked Example 1.1 — Asanda decides

Ms Asanda Mabuza (18) lives with her grandmother and two younger brothers in a village near Mbombela. She passed matric with mostly 50s and

60s, and she is the first in her family to finish school. Her teachers say she should “go to college”, but she does not know what that means or how she would pay. At a careers day she meets Mrs Nonhlanhla Mahlaba (49), a student support officer at a TVET college in Durban, who runs online workshops for first-year students across the country. Mrs Mahlaba asks Asanda three questions: what work she would like to do, what she is good at, and what her family needs from her. Asanda likes organising, is good with computers, and needs to earn within a few years. Together they look at office administration and information technology programmes at the TVET college nearest her home.

The lesson: start with three questions: what work, what strengths, and what your life needs.

Kinds of Colleges and Places of Study

• Public TVET college (50 colleges, on many campuses). NC(V), NATED N1–N6, occupational programmes, short skills programmes. Low fees; NSFAS bursaries for qualifying students (Chapter 2).
• Community Education and Training (CET) college. Adult education, second-chance learning, skills programmes, often in the evenings. Low or no fees.
• Private college. Short courses, occupational and other programmes. Higher fees; must be registered; NSFAS does not fund private colleges.
• University of technology and comprehensive university. Diplomas and degrees, often practical. NSFAS for qualifying students; higher entry requirements.
• Traditional university. Degrees. NSFAS for qualifying students; highest entry requirements.
• Learnerships and apprenticeships. Study combined with paid work, through an employer. The employer and a SETA usually pay; you may earn a stipend.

This book is written mainly for students at public TVET colleges, where most young South Africans who study after school go, but nearly all of it applies anywhere you study.

NC(V), NATED and Occupational Programmes

Most TVET colleges offer three kinds of programme. They differ in who they are for, how long they take and how they are assessed. NC(V): the National Certificate (Vocational)

• Three levels, Level 2, 3 and 4, one year each (NQF 2 to 4).
• For learners who have completed Grade 9 or higher; many have matric.
• Each level has fundamental subjects (language, mathematics or mathematical literacy, life orientation) and vocational subjects in a field such as office administration, information technology, engineering, tourism or primary agriculture.
• Assessed by marks during the year, a practical assessment and a final exam (Chapter 8).
• NC(V) Level 4 is at the same NQF level as matric and can lead to work, an occupational programme, or further study.

NATED (Report 191): the N programmes

• N1 to N3 in engineering studies (for example electrical, mechanical or civil), often studied by people working towards a trade.
• N4 to N6 in engineering and in business and general studies (for example management assistant, financial management, human resources, marketing, public management), usually after matric.
• Each N-level takes a trimester (engineering) or a semester (business).
• After N6, a period of relevant work experience leads to the National N Diploma (Chapter 9).

Occupational programmes

• Lead to an occupational certificate registered with the QCTO (Quality Council for Trades and Occupations), for example in a trade such as electrician or plumber, or in occupations such as office administration.
• Have three parts: knowledge, practical skills and workplace experience.
• End in an external integrated summative assessment (and, for trades, a trade test).
• Some are offered with an employer contract and a stipend; others are “simulated”, with the workplace part at the college.

Worked Example 1.2 — Tebogo goes back to study

Mr Tebogo Sekgobela (26) lives in Polokwane with his partner and their three-year-old daughter, Kgothatso. He has worked shifts at a supermarket since matric and has been promoted to stock controller. His manager says that with a qualification in management he could become an assistant manager. Mrs Mahlaba’s online workshop helps him compare. NC(V) is aimed at younger learners and is full-time for three years; a degree would take longer and cost more. N4 to N6 Management Assistant at the TVET college in Polokwane can be studied part-time, a semester at a time, and his work experience may count towards the N Diploma later. He enrols for N4 in the next intake.

The lesson: the right programme fits your stage of life, not only your interests.

Worked Example 1.3 — Chantelle chooses a trade

Ms Chantelle Pietersen (20) lives in Worcester with her mother, who cleans at a guesthouse. Since school she has done short jobs, and she helped an uncle wire a friend’s house extension, which she enjoyed. She wants a trade that pays well. The TVET college in her area offers an occupational programme for electricians, with knowledge modules, practical work in the college workshops, and workplace experience, ending in a trade test. She checks the entry requirements (matric with mathematics), goes to the open day, and applies.

The lesson: for a trade, look for an occupational programme that leads to the trade test.