Losing Practical Skills Through Academic Credentialisation of Lecturers in Public Technical and Vocational Education and Training Colleges in South Africa

Abstract

The global recognition of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) provision by the World Bank, the ILO, and UNESCO bears testament to its effectiveness and further highlights its potential to transition individuals into the labour market and support sustainable development and economic growth. Since the dawn of democracy in South Africa, the TVET sector has grown, helping young people and adults gain access to education and skills training needed to support their livelihoods. In 2013, the Department of Higher Education and Training enacted policy as part of its efforts to improve the quality of provision in TVET institutions. Consequently, 10 universities have contributed to the development and delivery of the Advanced Diploma in Technical and Vocational Teaching for initial teacher development. In this position paper, we demonstrate that TVET lecturer development in South Africa appears to contradict the technical, vocational, and occupational skills that public TVET colleges are meant to develop. The greatest shortfall of the Diploma programme, and the policy that informs it, is that it focuses more on academic credentialing, that is, awarding academic qualifications, than on practical learning in the workplace, from doing the work, and preparation for work in the relevant industry. Over the years, the South African public TVET college sector has lost skilled artisans (who serve as lecturers) in favour of academically qualified lecturers. In the wake of occupational qualifications and the loss of experienced artisans in public TVET colleges over the decades, we argue that academic credentialing is harming the sector and that entrusting universities with the training of TVET lecturers needs to be reviewed.