TVET students demand funding for workplace training

About 50 TVET students protested in Pretoria on Tuesday, demanding funding and job placements. Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee

Dozens of TVET students who are unable to graduate because they have not yet completed their practical training protested at the higher education department’s headquarters in Pretoria on Tuesday.

People studying towards a National Accredited Technical Education Diploma (NATED) are required to complete 18 months of workplace-based training.

But many students struggle to complete the practical training. “Some students wait two, three, or even more years just to find placement. During this time, our qualifications remain incomplete, our hopes are delayed, and our lives are put on hold,” reads a petition on Amandla.mobi, which has garnered 32,515 signatures.

NSFAS funds the first 18 months of theoretical training, but not the practical training. “We are expected to survive, travel, and sometimes work full-time for 18 months without pay or funding. This is not fair, and it is not realistic,” reads the petition, which was submitted to the department in February.

The petition demands funding for practical training and assistance with placements for students who are yet to graduate.

“I finished the theory, but I cannot get placement because government departments only accept students who have already been allocated a stipend. The college says there is no funding for stipends, so we are stuck. I feel stressed, frustrated, and uncertain about the future,” said Ongziwe Zazaza at Tuesday’s protest.

Zazaza studied Public Management at the Esayidi TVET College in KwaZulu-Natal. She completed the theoretical component of the qualification in 2024.

Thivhudziwi Walter Vele, the department’s acting chief director for TVET programmes, received the memorandum from the protesters.

Vele said Higher Education and Training Minister Buti Manamela will make a public announcement on Thursday, 11 June, addressing the matter.

He said the department has compiled a database of about 29,000 students who require in-service training.

Placements are being secured through partnerships with the Presidential Youth Employment Initiative, the Department of Tourism, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, and private businesses and small enterprises, he said.

He acknowledged that communication with student leadership has been inadequate. “We recognise your concerns as legitimate,” Vele said.

In September 2025, Manamela announced plans to phase out older NATED qualifications and introduce Occupational Qualifications aimed at aligning training with labour market needs.

Students are concerned that the qualifications will be phased out before all the students who are yet to complete in-service training have been able to graduate.

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