Twenty-fifth International Conference on Learning

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate factors that shape the Technical Vocational Education and Training engineering students’ understanding of their future career choices, given the promising and ambitious vision for growth both in Technical Vocational Education and Training, (TVET). Qualitative self-administered questionnaires which are open-ended in nature were used as data collection tool to assemble facts about students’ beliefs, feelings and experiences regarding certain engineering programs and services offered at TVET colleges. Non-probability sampling was used to select 113 participants who voluntarily completed the questionnaires which were organized to stimulate the required information. The findings are rather interesting, as they point to divergent views shared by students. There are those who feel very strongly that TVET qualification especially engineering leads to full employment because of its demand. Whilst the other group contends that the high rate of youth unemployment in South Africa does not guarantee even a graduate with either TVET or Higher Education qualification. They argue that no qualification guarantees anyone an employment as advanced by human capital theory. Vocational Education and Training must be repositioned to articulate a political response to poor schooling in relation to labor market and ease school leavers into jobs or self-employment under conditions of wide spread youth unemployment.