The Department of Basic Education hopes its new "three-stream model" for boosting technical skills at school level will make studying at Technical and Vocational Education Colleges (TVET) more attractive and reduce demand for university places, Parliament heard on Wednesday.
Basic education has historically channelled learners into two streams: an academic stream that led to the national senior certificate (matric) ,and a technical vocational stream that led to a qualification within the National Qualifications Framework (NQF). After Grade 9, learners could either stay at school or transfer to TVET colleges.
The three-stream model, which the department began piloting in 2017, adds a technical occupational stream, which has a greater emphasis on practical training than the vocational stream. It also directs more resources into the provision of technical skills, which the National Development Plan (NDP) says is essential if SA is to produce more artisans and boost employment.
In a discussion with the Department of Higher Education and Training, the Department of Basic Education had suggested raising the entry-level qualification offered by TVET colleges to NQF level 5 and restricting NQF level 4 to schools, Basic Education director-general Mathanzima Mweli told MPs. Learners would only be able to go to TVET colleges after Grade 12, he said.
"With the advent of the ‘three-stream’ model, we are making a clear distinction between school and TVET college," Mweli told MPs. "That will help to ease the pressure on universities, because more learners will want to go to TVET colleges when they offer higher qualifications [than they can get at school]."
The NDP says the number of students enrolled at TVET colleges should be ramped up to 2.5-million by 2030. In 2017, the figure stood at about 710,500.
Mweli said the policy change would not require amending legislation.
He also told MPs that universities now accepted all subjects from aspirant undergraduates, after former higher education and training minister Hlengiwe Mkhize scrapped the list of 29 approved subjects they previously used. This should help raise the status of vocational subjects such as tourism, he said.
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