Higher Education Minister Dr. Blade Nzimande has revealed that this department has increased the number of students enrolled in TVET colleges from 452 277 in 2020/21 to 580 849 in 2022/23.
In his speech, Nzimande said:
We are determined to grow the TVET sector faster and to enable subsidy and infrastructure funding that can support its rapid student enrolment growth.
This year, in a government’s Social Cluster after the State of the Nation Address (Sona), it had been announced that a minimum of 10 000 TVET [Technical and Vocational Education and Training] students would be placed in various sectors of the country’s economy, with Higher Education prioritising this through a collaboration with the Sector Education and Training Authority (SETAs) from 1 April 2022.
The department has further committed to placing 15 000 TVET college graduates for Workplace-Based Learning, i.e. 5 000 more than Sona commitments.
Nzimande also confirmed that there will be formed partnerships outside government for this sector to win job opportunities that will not only provide TVET students with jobs but contribute to the skills needed in the country.
The department has established the following partnerships:
- Japan/Toyota on automotive industry training.
- Germans on the dual system.
- UK to address youth unemployment.
- Huawei on ICT skills academies in 22 TVET colleges.
- SAMDRA on repair and maintenance of mobile devices.
This will provide training for TVET college students and workplace exposure for their lecturers so that they teach and train in what is currently needed by the industry.
