Govt failing students

TVET COLLEGES: PRODUCING UNEMPLOYABLE GRADUATES

No interest in future of youth that it claims to be training.

Ihave said it before and I’m going to say it again and again until we all stand up in defence and protection of the future of our children.

This government is hellbent on destroying the futures of our youth through the much-talkedabout and praised TVET colleges.

There has never been a connection between the output from these colleges and the industrial and commercial development of this country, particularly on the technical side.

I doubt it very much if this government understands the importance of industrial and commercial development and the effective role the youth must play in promoting that.

Last year, I had a rare opportunity of addressing TVET college lecturers. I estimated the average age of those knowledge dispensers to be about 38 years.

This begs the question about their acquired experience, or if they ever were employed by their respective industries. To me, technical education is more practical than theory.

Being the person that I am, I do, from time to time, engage students from these institutions and what they innocently reveal is disappointing.

I had a discussion with a second-year chemical engineering student. I asked her if they had a laboratory at the college and her response was, a disappointing, no.

I then asked her if, after completing her course, she was confident of getting a job. This is when it dawned on her that she most probably would struggle to get a job in her field of choice. This, because I asked if she believes any company would entrust her with anything chemistry.

This then gives you an idea and the understanding of why we have the ever-rising numbers of unemployed graduates. I prefer to call them unemployable graduates, because that’s what this system of education is producing.

Any company that takes itself seriously, would not take a chance of employing people who are not adequately prepared to be a part of their establishment.

This can only happen where a company is doing business with government where it has to meet certain B-BBEE scores.

Even then, those employees will seldom be given positions of responsibility.

To say our unemployment figures are rising, is an understatement. In fact we have a government system that exacerbates the situation.

Take the students who are being trained in the motor industry. Where and how do they do their practical training? Better still, who services, repairs government vehicles?

Those vehicles that are involved in accidents, who does the panel beating? Does government write off its damaged vehicles or does it put them on a tender system? Does government prefer to put the servicing and mechanical repairs of its vehicles on the tender system too?

If the above is true, them this government has no interest in the economic future of its youth that it claims to be training.

Monama is an independent commentator and a former Azapo leader