TVET students demand funding for workplace training
Thousands of students have not been able to graduate
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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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Letters
Dear Editor
I hear the students' concerns about all this phasing out of Nated programs, and it is really frustrating and depressing. I am a student from a college, and now I am at home because I couldn't complete my N3 because it's phased out. I can't even apply for N4 because I didn't complete my N3. We need answers.
Dear Editor
It’s very sad to see students struggling like this. It looks like the university does not care about students’ education. Phasing out subjects while some students are still studying forces them to quit and start new modules/courses. That is not fair. Students should be allowed to finish their current course before any modules are phased out. Please reconsider this decision for the sake of the students.
Dear Editor
My name is Rammela Livhuwani, a 26-year-old student. I have successfully completed all the subjects required for my N6 Engineering Studies qualification.
I am currently seeking opportunities to complete my practical/theoretical training so that I can qualify to apply for my National N Diploma.
However, I am concerned about the phasing out of NATED programmes as announced by DHET. Many of us have not yet completed our studies or received our certificates, and we are uncertain about what this means for our future.
Kindly advise on the way forward for students in my position who have already completed their N6 subjects but still need to obtain their certificates and complete the training component required for the National N Diploma.
Your assistance and clarity on this matter will be greatly appreciated.
Dear Editor
It's sad that we have come to this point, and it's concerning how the system continues to fail TVET College students. I'm a 27-year old, I have completed Civil Engineering N6 and Marketing Management N6. I have been applying for years with no luck.
This is about the futures of thousands of young South Africans who followed the path our education system encouraged us to take. We studied, sacrificed and completed our NATED programmes with the hope that hard work would lead to opportunity. Yet many of us remain unable to secure the practical workplace experience required to move forward.
If NATED courses are to be phased out, government owes current and former students clear answers, support and real solutions. We cannot simply be abandoned and told to accept that our qualifications no longer hold value. We deserve recognition, access to workplace opportunities and a fair chance to contribute our skills to the country's economy. All we are asking for is what we were promised: the opportunity to complete our journey, and graduate with dignity.
Dear Editor
The government and the Department of Higher Education and Training are failing us as TVET College students. They are failing us with their rules regarding application for National N Diploma.
I was lucky to be able to find myself an in-service training however, with the company's confidential policy I couldn't obtain or gather evidence of my work and the DHET is now denying us to use the confidentiality letter. I was told to create my own evidence using the company, isn't that illegal?
Does the government and the DHET not want us to graduate?
This is really frustrating and no one is saying anything, we need help.
Dear Editor
I am one of the students who are not getting in-service training. I finished my N6 2024, when we go to public institutions they refuse for us to do it without funding. The phasing out is stressing us and also our ages, I am 34 years old.
Can we also be taken serious like university students?
Dear Editor
I completed my N6 in 2016, yet I still have not been able to complete my in-service training. I tried to volunteer, but companies rejected my requests. My age also makes it difficult for me to be considered for internships because I fall outside the 18-28 age group.
Dear Editor
I have also finished my N6 financial management course. I am 38 now, with no internship completed. When you look at internship requirements, the age requirement is 18-35 years. I have been applying all along without success. I wonder if I will ever get an internship or a permanent job.
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