Xavier Radio Ug News 24 7
Non-profit organisation Youth Capital is calling for stronger intervention to address systemic challenges affecting Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges.
The organisation says ongoing issues such as underfunding, limited capacity, delayed student allowances and inadequate accommodation are undermining students’ dignity and their constitutional right to further education.
Youth Capital project leader Buhlebethu Magwaza says there is concern over unequal treatment between TVET college students and university students.
“We all know that TVET students are still not being given the same allowance as university students, yet all these students are having the same expenses. They are living in the same accommodations. They are affected by food prices and the cost of living the same way,” says Magwaza.
She adds, “So you don’t automatically need less money just because you are a TVET student, in fact some might argue that you need more because you have practicals. So there needs to be clear alignment between what the needs and lived experiences are of young people in the TVET system.”
Youth Capital calls for the release of funds
In June 2025, the Department of Higher Education and Training acknowledged that it does not give sufficient support to TVET colleges. The department said it’s working on transforming the education system in colleges by using new technology and revamping dilapidated infrastructure.
Former minister Nobuhle Nkabane visited the Mankwe campus of Orbit TVET College in Mogwase, outside Rustenburg. The campus also received a R13 million donation of new technology.
Nkabane admitted that TVET colleges are not well supported. “I believe that we did not do much as the country to showcase what our TVETs can offer in terms of their career paths. When you look at them, naturally they are designed to be more inclusive and also they produce graduates that are competitive in terms of the labour market, because when you go to TVET it is guaranteed that when you acquire a particular qualification, you are in a position to sustain yourself. Because when you become an artisan or maybe an electrician, there is no way you can suffer, you can be an entrepreneur; you can also look for employment. So that is what we did not do as the country — to showcase what our TVETs are doing.”
— SABC News (@SABCNews) February 7, 2025
www.sabcnews.com, https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/youth-capital-calls-for-equal-support-for-tvet-colleges/
