Fewer walk-ins at Cape Town colleges

Technical education bodies are ready for an influx of students

REGARDLESS of free registration fees at Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, Cape Town TVET colleges have seen fewer walk-in students compared to 2016. A handful of first-year hopefuls gathered at the False Bay TVET College in Khayelitsha hoping to be enrolled.

Some said they had been waiting for this opportunity to learn for a long time and had not been able to do so because of financial constraints.

“I was relieved when I heard we don’t have to pay registration fees. I really want to study this year. I was going to work this December to pay for my registration if it was not free. Some of us come from disadvantaged homes. I am going to study engineering,” Lwando Ngozi said.

The College of Cape Town said that although they had heard it was the last day for first-year students to register, for them it was not. “We are welcoming walk-in students for first-time applications. The selection process started in August, but there are still a number of courses vacant.

“We expected long queues by this time as holidays are over, students are looking for institutions. We think maybe next week more will come,” corporate communications and marketing manager Sharon Grobbelaar said.

Northlink Cape Town campus also said they had expected more and had received fewer applications compared to the same period last year.

“We had planned very well and everything has been running smoothly. As we are aware that universities are not taking walk-in students, we thought by now we’ll be seeing more of them.

“Today few students came but on Wednesday we had a lot. The NSAFA (National Student Financial Aid Scheme) system is the only thing that is slow.”

Meanwhile, six people were injured in a stampede at Polokwane’s Capricorn TVET college. As a result, registration there has been stopped and will resume on Monday.

It is understood that injuries occurred as a result of pushing and shoving between people queueing for admission.

Deputy Higher Education Minister Buti Manamela said he was happy with progress in universities and colleges so far.

“There’s not been anything out of the ordinary. All the glitches are part of the normal registration process we’ve been witnessing for the last three to four years.”

I WAS RELIEVED TO HEAR WE DON’T HAVE TO PAY REGISTRATION FEES. I REALLY WANT TO STUDY THIS YEAR