Cape Town - With universities not having the capacity to absorb many of the country’s matriculants, the spotlight is now on Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) colleges.
Recently, universities revealed that they had received applications up to 30 times higher than available spaces for first-year applicants.
However, TVET colleges offer skills-based qualifications that prepare candidates for absorption in the economy.
They cater to students who want academic excellence, vocational skills, and to be entrepreneurial savvy.
Hlumelo Kwetsube, a recent graduate of Electrical Infrastructure Construction from Lovedale TVET College in the Eastern Cape, is this week heading to Cairo in Egypt, to participate in a 22-day training programme alongside 39 other TVET college graduates from South Africa.
The initiative, which aims to equip participants with world-class skills in appliance repair, is led by the Wholesale and Retail (W&R) Seta in collaboration with Elaraby, Egypt’s leading company in manufacturing and electronics.
Madia Teresia, a graduate of Vhembe TVET College in Limpopo, whose campus recently invited her to encourage students, said she started as an artisan and now has her own business.
“If you want to embark on a journey of artisanry, you can go for it because there are opportunities. Artisans are in high demand because of their creativity.”
Zolile Zungu, a lecturer and researcher at TVET colleges, described these institutions as more aligned to skills and practical knowledge.
“The TVET curriculum tries to get students into a situation where they learn both the theory and the practical simultaneously. Time would be structured so that a portion of the learning time is dedicated to book knowledge, while another to hand knowledge.
“For example, if you are studying hotel management, you’ll learn what the books of hospitality say about how to run a good hotel, managing staff, and all of that. And then the second half of the course would go into you being placed within a hotel set up, and then you execute all those tasks that are part of the skill set that you are supposed to learn for that curriculum,” he said.
Zungu added that the misconception that hits him the most is that of people who believe that TVET colleges are meant for those who have failed at education.
KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education spokesperson, Muzi Mahlambi, added that the former Education MEC Mbali Frazer had committed to using schools that were closing down because of the poor numbers - as skills Centres.
“We will rely on funding from Setas. They fund programmes according to their need for each sector - students that will be employable post-graduation. Through this initiative, we are creating a safety net for those who did not pass matric. We want to make sure that they are employable and able to earn a living through skills,” Mahlambi said.