Fifty technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges are headed for a total shutdown this week, with students saying the time for talking is over.
The SA Further Education and Training Student Association said weak leadership, corruption, unqualified lecturers and the lack of certification and student support had collapsed the sector.
The association's president Yonke Twani told reporters in Pretoria yesterday that the students' repeated pleas to the Department of Higher Education and Training had fallen on deaf ears.
Twani said students had no choice but to shut down the sector from tomorrow. "We have been patient and lenient since 2013, trying to persuade college management and the Department of Higher Education and Training, hoping that we can as a collective work together to sort these issues out."
The TVET colleges expected to be affected the most include Buffalo City College in Eastern Cape, Capricorn College in Limpopo, Ekurhuleni West College in Gauteng, Coastal College in KwaZulu-Natal and Ehlanzeni College in Mpumalanga.
Twani said students had been grappling with delays in the release of results and certificates since 2012, with no explanation. He added that insufficient student funding and outdated curricula were also at the core of their grievances.
"The future of young people in the [TVET] space is at risk," he said. "We are saying it is at risk because many young people who exited the colleges between 2010 and 2014 have not as yet received their certificates."
Twani said this prevented college graduates from venturing into the labour market.
Department of Higher Education and Training spokesman Busi Ngqangeni said it would meet all stakeholders this week and convene a press briefing next week.
The 2017-2018 budget for TVET colleges is R19.8-billion. This year the department's target enrolment for new students stands at 207510.