There are more than 50 Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges with over 200 campuses located across the country. These colleges are often viewed as being less prestigious when compared to universities and are frequently associated with poorly performing students.
TVET college classes commenced on 23 January 2023 and the total number of students enrolled for the Ministerial approved programmes was 497 032 with an additional 59 383 enrolments from programmes funded through other donors.
This totalled 556 450 but was far from the 2 million student target for 2030 National Development Plan (NDP), stated the department.
Transforming TVET colleges into institutions of choice for high school graduates is a part of the Department of Higher Education and Training's (DHET) plans as they expand and strengthen the college sector as a whole.
In an effort to do so, several new campuses have been built over the last eight to ten years and some are currently being built.
However, the department says a substantial increase of funding is required for expansion of the TVET college sector to meet the NDP targets.
According to Minister Blade Nzimande his department did not receive any additional money for colleges, besides the annual inflationary linked- increases. In fact, there have been cuts and there has not been any funding for the expansion of TVET colleges.
Given the total amount of money that we have, we need to think about what can be done to expand the college sector without sacrificing the need to reach 1.62 million university enrolments by 2023.
Additionally, the department has also initiated several programmes including a huge skills centre costing just under R150 million built by the Wholesale and Retail Sector in Sekhukhune.
The minister noted that the money for the centre came from the skills fund, not from the fiscus to prioritise rural areas and build these skill centres and colleges there.
The skills centre is expected to open its doors later in the year.
Furthermore, Nzimande also noted that registrations and admission processes for the 2023 academic year have been standardised as well as the issuing of certificates to graduates.
The use of technology was also embraced in the enrolment of students in TVET colleges, and a huge number of students were accepted through online applications.
