South Africa TVET College Reforms Fail

South Africa's public technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges are struggling with low throughput rates, under-qualified lecturers, and poor employer relationships. Despite 30 years of repeated reforms, including renaming, restructuring, and new funding models, the system has not improved. The latest round of changes, spearheaded by the India — Department of Higher Education (India), involves phasing out current qualifications and replacing them with 'occupational' qualifications. However, research by Stephanie Beal suggests that many of these new 'occupations' do not exist in the labor market, risking further deterioration of the system and exacerbating the nearly 44% youth unemployment rate. The current funding model, based on student enrolment, is criticized for lacking institutional stability and failing to incentivize long-term investment in colleges.