[This Act repealed by the Further Education and Training Colleges Act, No. 16 of 2006 as published in Government Gazette No. 29469 dated 11 December 2006]

(English text signed by the President)

(Assented to 20 October 1998)

To regulate further education and training; to provide for the establishment, governance and funding of public further education and training institutions; to provide for the registration of private further education and training institutions; to provide for quality assurance and quality promotion in further education and training; to provide for transitional arrangements and the repeal of laws; and to provide for matters connected therewith.

PREAMBLE

WHEREAS it is desirable to –

ESTABLISH a national co-ordinated further education and training system, which promotes co-operative governance and provides for programme-based further education and training;

RESTRUCTURE AND TRANSFORM programmed and institutions to respond better to the human resources, economic and development needs of the Republic;

REDRESS past discrimination and ensure representivity and equal access;

ENSURE access to further education and training and the workplace by persons who have been marginalised in the past, such as women, the disabled and the disadvantaged:

PROVIDE optimal opportunities for learning, the creation of knowledge and the development of intermediate, to high-level skills in keeping with international standards of academic and technical quality;

PROMOTE the values, which underline an open and democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedom;

ADVANCE strategic priorities determined by national policy objectives at all levels of governance and management within the further education and training sector:

RESPECT and encourage democracy and foster an institutional culture, which promotes fundamental human rights and creates an appropriate environment for teaching and learning;

PURSUE excellence; promote the full realisation of the potential of every student and member of staff, tolerance of ideas and appreciation of diversity;

RESPOND to the needs of the Republic, the Iabour market and of the communities served by the institutions;

COMPLEMENT the Skills Development Strategy in co-operation with the Department of Labour;

AND WHEREAS IT IS DESIRABLE for further education and training institutions to perform specific functions within the context of public accountability and the national need for intermediate to high level skills and knowledge and to provide access to work and higher education;

BE IT THEREFORE ENACTED by the Parliament of the Republic of South Africa, as follows: