South African Students Congress (SASCO) has said that TVET Colleges are in crisis. They are saying that there are infrastructure backlogs and outdated curriculums and plan to protest to have their demands for TVET Colleges heard.
SASCO is planning a day of action on Wednesday, to highlight these problems. They are embarking on what they are calling a “National Day of Action” on 14 October.
They have released an invitation to the press as they say:
SASCO is embarking on a National Day of Action given the dire state of all TVET Colleges in South Africa, the huge infrastructure backlogs, outdated curriculum and the scourge of corruption plaguing our colleges.
The student movement group is said to be worried when it comes to the state of affairs at TVET Colleges and believe that TVET Colleges need a revamp of their curriculum and infrastructure.
President of SASCO, Bamanye Matiwane, said:
There are people who are given a responsibility to be in charge of the sector from the government … we are saying those people who are given those tasks are the ones who are not moving at the pace that we want.
They are therefore saying that they must be removed as new people are needed and they must then be made aware that they have an agenda of dealing with the issues SASCO is putting forth.
Most young people that go to TVET Colleges often wait for their qualifications and lecturers are not well-equipped, said SASCO.
“We are going to give the President 14 days to respond,” said Matiwane.
SASCO has raised various issues and has said that there have been long standing problems in the TVET sector. TVET institutions face a number of challenges.
TVET Colleges have been attempting to bridge gap in skills shortages and what SASCO wants to do is to make sure that Colleges become institutions of choice, not just disregarded by the Department.
In Gauteng, they will have a massive march culminating at Union Building and they’ll be submitting a memorandum of demands to the President, National Parliament and the Premiers offices in the 9 provinces as well.
They are saying that they are not going to the Department but rather straight to the President to highlight the crisis TVET Colleges are facing.
The Department is said to have given an underwhelming response and that they are still going through the demands of students.
The more you understand yourself, the more silence there is, the healthier you are. —Maxime Lagacé
