The Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation, Dr Blade Nzimande, welcomed media members to a briefing where he discussed the challenges faced by TVET College students with regard to their certificates.
Students have been complaining that they have not yet received their certificates or when they go to collect their certificates from their campuses, their certificates aren’t there.
Minister Nzimande suggested that students first visit their college campuses to collect their certificates. If they are unsuccessful in receiving them at their campuses, then they should contact the Department of Higher Education and Training.
TVET College certificates are usually released 90 days after the results were processed. A total of 99.94% of certificates from the previous backlog have been dispersed to colleges for qualifying students after the processing of results.
Minister Nzimande encouraged colleges not to withhold certificates from students due to unpaid tuition fees, as this will not be tolerated by the Department of Higher Education and Training.
About 39 777 candidates’ results were released to colleges. According to Nzimande, 2 028 candidates’ results were nullified due to exam irregularities found.
The Department of Higher Education and Training is currently dealing with the irregularities found in those candidates’ exams. As soon as more information is known about what took place during those exams, then the department will release a statement about its next steps.
According to Nzimande, the government strives to place 10 000 TVET College graduates in workplaces from April 2022 until March 2023. A total of 6 779 graduates have found employment thus far, which is 67% of their target.
These graduates have been placed in internships, learnerships and service training where they gain the skills for further employment opportunities. “I, however, still want to call upon the industry to open their workspaces to our TVET students and those who graduate through all our skills institutions,” said Nzimande.
