Further education for unsuccessful grades 9 to 12 school leavers in South Africa

Statistics released by the Education Management Information Systems (EMIS), (2002 to 2009) reveal that 60% of learners entering Grade 9 leave school without attaining Grade 12 certificates. These learners do not qualify for employment because employers prefer well-trained experienced employees. A limited number (12 500 annually) of learnership and apprenticeship opportunities are also out of reach because they have to compete with better-qualified candidates. High unemployment rates (25.3%) and very high youth unemployment (48%) signifies their bleak prospects. The poor success rate of these learners, attempting further education at FET colleges, implies inappropriateness of the existing curricula at these colleges to address their educational needs. Their educational foundation, primarily based on language, mathematics and science proficiency, is insufficient for progress in mainstream further education at schools or Further Education and Training colleges. The aim of this study is therefore to investigate the educational situation and propose a curriculum for a specific field, which can serve as an example for further research and establishment of appropriate curricula over the spectrum of learner aptitudes and interests. For this purpose, the field of engineering was selected to reduce the research to manageable size, uniform characteristics and a specific curriculum focus. Addressing their quest for skills and qualifications can be met with transdisciplinary practicum-based education obviating the linguistic-logic-mathematical predilection of mainstream education.   Key words: Educational foundation, constructivism, knowledge integration, transdisciplinary, practicum-based, differentiated development.