President Jacob Zuma announced in May 2009 that the national Department of Education would be split into two ministries – Basic Education, and Higher Education and Training. The Minister for Higher Education and Training is Dr Blade Nzimnande.

The Further Education and Training (FET) branch is responsible for the development of policy for grades 10 to 12 in public and independent schools, as well as in public and private FET colleges.

It monitors the integrity of assessment in schools and colleges, and offers an academic curriculum as well as a range of vocational subjects. FET colleges cater for out-of-school youth and adults.

South Africa has 50 multisite-campus further education and training (FET) colleges.

Each new college operates under a single governing council appointed to oversee effective and accountable management across and within the various FET college campuses and sites.

Expanding and improving capacity at FET colleges is a vital part of government’s growth strategy. Government has set the target to expand the number of young people studying vocational subjects. The 2010/11 budget for FET colleges of R12 billion over three years, has been shifted from provinces to the national department. A further R1,3 billion was allocated to improve the salaries of FET college educators.

Some of the main challenges that face FET in South Africa are low Vocational Gross Enrolment Rates (VGER), low graduation and throughput rates arising out of high failure rates and low retention rates, a lack of relevance and responsiveness to the needs of industry and the economy, and a shortage of suitably qualified lecturers to drive vocational training. In addition, colleges are working to improve partnerships with industry, in order to improve the relevance of the vocational education offered, and to build trust with industries that college graduates are trained and employable.