More students must enrol in programs at Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges and universities if the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) is to meet its goals set in the National Development Plan (NDP).
The NDP seeks to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality in South Africa by 2030. To achieve the goals set out in the NDP, different sectors have targets to create the critical capabilities needed to transform the country’s economy and society.
According to the NDP, South Africa must have further and higher education and training that enable people to fulfil their potential. This higher education sector must be able to contribute to rising incomes, higher productivity, and the shift to a more knowledge-intensive economy.
The DHET will implement several strategies to achieve the goals set out in the NDP. This includes expanding access to higher education, increasing enrollment at institutions, improving the success and efficiency of programs offered at institutions, and expanding infrastructure at institutions as well as building new infrastructure.
TVET Colleges
Goals set out in the NDP require the DHET to strengthen and expand the number of TVET colleges to increase the participation rate to 25% and increase the graduation rate of TVET colleges to 75%.
Eight TVET college campuses will be built over the next Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) to ensure they can increase enrollments. This includes building two campuses, the uMfolozi campus and uMgungundlovu-Greytown campus, over the next twelve months.
Work is also being done with Durban University of Technology to complete an engineering building as part of the Imbali Precinct Project. The pilot project explores an alternate modality of education delivery based on multiple institutional cooperation and closer articulation.
The DHET wants to increase the enrollment at TVET colleges from 520,000 enrollments in 2023/2024 to 640,000 enrollments in 2025/2026. They also want to increase the number of students receiving funding from NSFAS to 420,000 in 2025 from 346,258 funded students in 2023.
Emphasis will be placed on increasing the number of qualified artisans and increasing the number of learners who complete learnerships. A learnership is a type of work-based training program that combines classroom learning with practical on-the-job training. It provides students with the necessary skills and knowledge to perform a specific job or function.
Additionally, the department will look to ensure that 6,000 students participate in work-integrated learning (WIL) to gain experience in the practical application of the work they completed at college.
The department will also look to increase the number of learners who complete skills programs by 25,000 learners to 130,960 in 2025 from the 105,000 learners who are completing skills programs in 2023.
University
The department is aiming to increase the number of students completing university with a qualification from 232,000 in 2023/20424 to 249,509 graduates in 2025/2026. This includes increasing the number of engineering graduates, initial teaching education graduates, Master’s graduates, and Doctoral graduates.
Progress is being made regarding the development of concept designs for the construction of two new universities in Ekurhuleni and Hammanskraal. The department will also implement 9 projects for the provision of 28,000 student beds by 2025/2026.
