North West Business 2023-24

OVERVIEW
Education and training
Bicycles make learning easier.
Rural pupils attending classes at Olefile Secondary School in
Pitsedisulejang no longer face a long walk to and from school.
The village, in the far north-western corner of the province, is
part of the Moses Kotane Local Municipality. Medipost Holdings
has donated R300 000 worth of mountain bikes for the use of
pupils. Bikes4ERP, the NGO which distributed the bicycles, gives bicycles
to students, teachers and school volunteers with the main aim
to increase access to education.
The CSI initiative responds to the findings of a StatsSA survey that
found that more than half of the 690 000 pupils in the province who walk
to an educational institution are from rural areas.
In the 2022 academic year, an amount of R16.2-million was allocated
by provincial government in terms of the renamed Victor Thebe Sifora
Provincial Bursary Scheme. The scheme will disburse R21.4-million in the
2023 academic year.
The North West Parks Board has allocated an amount of R4-million to
be spent on youth skills development.
At North-West University, a new qualification, Mechatronic
Engineering, has been added to the courses offered by the Faculty of
Engineering. The Bachelor of Mechatronic Engineering programme
has been approved by the Engineering Council of South Africa (ECSA),
enabling graduates to compete internationally.
The university and its researchers are leaders in many fields, including
astrophysics, tourism, solar energy and extruder technology.
The University of South Africa (Unisa) has three branches in North
West, at Rustenburg, Potchefstroom and Mmabatho.
Technical Vocational and Educational Training colleges teach skills
that are relevant to the workplace. North West has three TVET colleges
with several campuses each. Vuselela TVET College has its headquarters
in Klerksdorp, where there is also an accredited trade test centre. There
are a further four campuses: Jouberton Centre for Engineering Studies;
Matlosana Campus; Potchefstroom Centre for ICT and Taung Campus.
Orbit TVET College has three sites, Rustenburg, Mankwe and
Brits, with about 15 000 students overall. The Rustenburg campus
of Orbit College hosts a Microsoft IT Academy while the Mankwe
campus offers automotive training, the result of a partnership
between the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related SETA
ONLINE RESOURCES
North West Department of Education: www.desd.nwpg.gov.za
North-West University: www.nwu.ac.za
NWU Business School: www.commerce.nwu.ac.za
SECTOR INSIGHT
North-West University now
offers Mechatronic Engineering.
(MerSETA), Lelethu Training and
Ford South Africa. Orbit TVET
College hosts an electronics
academy courtesy of sponsor
Samsung Electronics on the
Mankwe campus, and in
partnership with the MerSETA.
Mankwe also offers Automotive
Repair, Maintenance and
Transport and Logistics and
is a Centre of Specialisation in
Diesel Trade.
The Taung Agricultural
College is accredited by the
Council on Higher Education
(CHE) to offer the NQF level
6 Diploma in Agriculture
specialising in Irrigation
Technology. ■
NORTH WEST BUSINESS 2023/24
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