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EDWIN NAIDU
WHEN it comes to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), for Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Buti Manamela, no subject arouses as much enthusiasm as the prospect of TVET colleges transforming the workplace and attacking the swathes of unemployment for the country’s youth.
Manamela passionately describes the potential for shifting the dial for South African youth through these skills-based learning institutions geared towards contributing to the economy.
He reckons that graduates from TVET are more employable than university products.
If it is going to make a dent in the country’s unemployment figures, Manamela’s optimism must translate into positive results.
According to Statistics South Africa, (Stats SA), youth unemployment refers to the share of the labour force aged between 15-24 without work but available for and seeking employment.
This figure has gone up since 2017. Of the 7.2 million unemployed people in the first quarter of 2021, 52.4 percent had education levels below matric, followed by those with matric at 37.7 percent. This means there were 2.6 million matriculants in the unemployment queue, says Stats SA.
As a product of Mamelodi TVET College, Manamela knows what he’s talking about. His youthful face, not masked by the distinguished beard he now sports, lights up when TVET is discussed, particularly its impact on the future.
During a recent interview, Manamela rescheduled time in his busy diary to take Inside Education on a walkabout through the corridors of a TVET similar to one where he once walked. Manamela completed matric at Phagameng High School in Modimolle, then studied towards his N-Certificate in Electronics at Mamelodi College until 2001, completing his Post-Graduate Diploma (2014) and Master of Management in Public Policy at the University of the Witwatersrand (2017).
Taken through the TVET College in Pretoria East, Manamela was shown the broad extent of the offering to students. Here students can obtain qualifications in tourism, business studies, civil engineering, electronics, economics and accounting, information technology and computer science, among other options. Students can learn about industrial electronics, power machines, control systems, electro-technics and clothing industry career options.
TVET colleges throughout the country also offer coding, programming and robotics to broaden the skills for the 21 st century. The Tshwane North TVET Tshwane North Technical and Vocational Education and Training College (TNC) is situated in the Greater Tshwane Metropolis of Gauteng. It consists of a corporate (Central) Office in the inner city of Pretoria and 6 Campuses: Mamelodi; Pretoria; Rosslyn; Soshanguve North; Soshanguve South, and Temba.
The College has a closed hostel at Soshanguve South Campus which could accommodate 300 students. The College has about 327 lecturers with a student population of between 20 000 and 21 000. Students spend half their time during their studies obtaining practical experience.
Sophisticated machinery, donated by the Indian government, has pride of place and gives students specialised skills in learning how to operate them. A single CNC machine can cut, drill and mill replacing what one in the past used to perform manually.
Manamela was impressed by what he had seen during the hour-and-a-half walkabout, recalling his days when studying electronics.
“It’s important to focus on TVET colleges and our work there consistently. Of course, there’s some of the challenges that we’re confronted with, policies that we’ve put in place to improve the quality of TVET colleges,” he says.
At work- Buti Manamela, Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation. PHOTO-EDDIE MTSWENI
Manamela says apprenticeships have been reintroduced at TVET institutions.
“In the past, apprentices were mostly trained by Eskom, SAA, state-owned enterprises, and some of the private sector, but most of them shut down. So to re-introduce them, we’ve got about 80,000 students across the country who are spending some time in the workplace. They spend some time in the classroom, too, which is similar to the jewel in Germany.”
This initiative, says Manamela, has been received positively by the industry. “People in the industry who are involved are very excited about this kind of project. We’ve collaborated with, some like the car manufacturing company in India, we’ve collaborated with Chinese and German companies to help build infrastructure,” he adds.
Manamela says German car manufacturing companies have shown an interest, particularly in TVET colleges in Pretoria and invested in the training of artisans and apprentices.
However, the Deputy Minister notes that South Africa finds itself in an unfortunate situation where
universities are deemed more privileged than other institutions.
“We’re trying to reverse that. If you look at countries such as Germany, Russia, and Brazil, even in the early days, some of the countries in the continent, Mozambique, did quite well, where they focused on giving young people a skill. So they could be a carpenter, a bricklayer, or an electrician.
“Most of those countries are focused on investing resources at TVET colleges, and their TVET sector is twice the number of students than those who go to universities. So we’re working on that. I mean, the TVET sector has significantly increased over the last year. But of course, a lot more money is required for it to happen.”
Manamela says it’s about changing the mentality. “People don’t regard it as sexy. It is precisely because the kinds of professions that are posed, particularly in mainstream media, are the sexy ones.
Someone wants a corner office, to wear a tie and all of that. But we try and consistently remind everyone that we still need cooks, plumbers, welders.”
Along with the work done by Sector Education Training Authorities (SETAs), Manamela says, there is a growing change in the perception of young minds. “We are now churning out 90 000 artisans a year. The NDP target is at 20000 per year by 2030. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, we had reached 22,000 artisans per year. “
“We need to remind parents, teachers and students themselves that if they believe that their child should go to an institution of training so that they go and immediately find work, TVET colleges are the solution. You get experiential training; you get 90% of students who go to TVET colleges, you know, NSFAS funded, you get exposed to industry-based standards facilities in the 26 centres of specialisation.
“TVET colleges are essential, and I believe that one must encourage parents, teachers and students themselves, those who are in grade nine and those who are doing their grade 12, to look at some of the programs being offered at TVET colleges.
“Some students who go to university, studying mechanical engineering, probably would not see an engineer in their life because that’s not how universities are designed in terms of the curriculum. So if you want to be a mechanical engineer who fixes cars, go to a TVET college, at best, go to a university of technology,” he adds.
Manamela insists all 50 TVET institutions are good colleges, offering a diverse range of programmes on 256 campuses, with many embarking on expansive infrastructure development.
“It’s about looking at the kind of program that you want to do and look at how that college has performed in terms of that particular program.”
He says the career opportunities from studying at a TVET are varied and can be enrichening, whether one wants to become a welder or work in the hotel or tourism industries.
The former Mamelodi College student has come a long way since his student days. Now, he’s particularly keen for TVET colleges to start getting a good rap so that South Africans start to see how it can benefit the nation.
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