The Young Communist League of South Africa [uFasimba] will tomorrow, the 13th of October 2020, join and support the National Day of Action by the South African Students Congress (SASCO) on the transformation of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges.
Without the transformation of TVET institutions, the theory of transforming the economic structure of our society will be a myth. It is sagacious for any conscious struggle that the transformation of TVET colleges, and universities, will lay the basis for the transformation of our education system which is a necessary struggle if we are to change the production patterns in our society. TVETs should be institutions of choice which can be reliant upon not to only produce employees but equally entrepreneurs. The neo-liberal content of education teaches the youth in particular students that the market is the solution to the problems facing society.
It is important that as part of transforming the South African education system, the solution should be towards improving infrastructure, inculcating the culture of learning and teaching coupled with improving learning and teaching; advancing higher education transformation; and invigorating ideological battles through struggles for curriculum transformation.
Transformation in the TVET sector is a necessary struggle to honour the democratic principle for equality. We join the SASCO National Day of Action to demand equal funding for TVET and university students. Whether the curriculums are different in colleges and universities does not change the fact that young people are faced with the same social struggles and that qualifies the current unequal funding model in the higher education sector as irrational. Funding for accommodation and meal allowances cannot be directly linked to the curriculum much as they are linked to the social struggles of young people.
TVET colleges should claim their rightful space in society. The amount of learning disciplines and the type of curriculum offered in TVET colleges undermines the purpose and nature of these institutions. The YCLSA is calling for the inclusion of more programmes in TVET colleges and the transformation of the current curriculum.
The fact that students in TVET colleges do not receive both their results and certificates on time signals capacity constrains within the TVET sector. Different modalities and mechanism on the issuing of results and certificates should be considered in order to respond to this challenge.
Student accommodation remains one of the apex challenges confronting the higher education sector. Moreover, the quality of accommodation afforded to TVET students as compared to university students reflect not only a two-tier education systematic framework but also an unequal higher education society. The view of the YCLSA is that creating an equal higher education society should be a simultaneous process to addressing the issue of accommodation in the higher education sector.
We call upon young people and all progressive forces to join the SASCO National Day of Action as we advance the struggle for transformation and youth empowerment.
Issued by the Young Communist League of South Africa
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Dloze Matooane
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