A short course was recently piloted at the Drakenstein Municipality in Water Treatment Process Management for TVET College Lecturers. The course is part of a suite of courses where the purpose is to upskill lecturers in training related to water treatment.
The course, accredited by Stellenbosch University, holds five credits on level seven of the National Qualifications Framework. It was developed as part of an Energy and Water Services Sector Education Training Authority (EWSETA) initiative, in collaboration with the Stellenbosch University Water Institute.
The course, presented for the first time in September 2017 in the Limpopo Province, followed by a second offering at Drakenstein Municipality, was facilitated by Mr Chris Swartz, a water utilisation engineer with more than 25 years of experience in the water sector. Attending the course, presented in the Paarl, were lecturers from five TVET Colleges, including Boland College, College of Cape Town, Northlink College, South Cape College and West Coast College, as well as staff members from the City of Cape Town and Drakenstein Municipalities.
The Drakenstein Municipality’s Executive Director of Corporate Services, Mr Seraj Johaar, presided over the official opening, while Dr Antoinette Smith Tolken, director of the Division for Social Impact, represented Stellenbosch University. Manuel Jackson from the SU Water Institute (SUWI), says engineers, managers, decision-makers, municipal and industrial operations and maintenance personnel, as well as lecturers at TVET colleges and universities, will benefit from this course: “The goal is to provide the South African water sector with a high level overview of the core principles and management concepts of water and wastewater treatment. The course is designed in such a way to enable tutors, trainers, as well as engineers and officials from the three tiers of government to select and apply water and wastewater treatment processes to meet specific water treatment needs. The course also enables participants to assess and design operation and maintenance plans for water and wastewater treatment plants.”
The next offering of this course will take place at the Nkangala Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) College in Mpumalanga 26 to 28 March 2018.
For more information about the short course, contact Ms. Hillary Siebritz at 021 808 9514.