The Adv Dip TVT, the first of its kind in South Africa and presented at the University’s Education Faculty, is an innovative programme to provide lecturers in the TVET sector with a professional lecturer’s qualification. It is a professional vocational teaching qualification at NQF Level 7, which seeks to develop and deepen teaching competencies expected of lecturers and trainers in the TVET sector.
The qualification, which was years in the making after the government gazetted the policy in 2013, was introduced at a time when, globally, there were huge expectations placed on the technical and vocational sector. In South Africa, government had identified this sector as a national priority, with a goal of having a headcount of 2.5-million students enrolled in TVET colleges by 2030.
Graduates and/or diplomates who already have an appropriate and relevant prior qualification, e.g. a Bachelor’s Degree, can apply for this advanced diploma. They need to have a specific depth in a specialisation of appropriate, vocationally orientated knowledge to apply.
The course is offered part-time on Missionvale Campus or on a full-time basis on South Campus, as well as various off-campus sites.
Mandela University staff member administrative assistant, Cleadia Hartzenberg, who has a BTech in Public Relations and Communication, is one of the graduates of this Diploma.
“I've always wanted to be an educator. And when I heard about this qualification, I immediately knew that I had to enrol, as it would allow me to follow both my passions, which is Public Relations Management and teaching at the same time,” Cleadia says.
“And what I've learned from this qualification is that the TVET sector is recognised to be a crucial vehicle for social equity, inclusion and sustainable development, which motivates us, as future TVET educators, to become critic-creative thinkers within the education sector.
Social Work graduate Sindiswa Tanda, 47, is the only Social Worker in the group that is graduating with this diploma. From selling airtime on the street, she started studying at the age of 40, with no money, towards a Bachelor’s in Social Work, graduating when her son, Hlonela, was in matric.
“Learning online with COVID-19 was a big challenge for me and I was overwhelmed with people close to me dying, feeling sick myself, having laptop problems and struggling with technology,” she says.
“My son, who also started studying, became too stressed and wanted to stop studying because of laptops problems, but we both persevered. At times I wrote on my cell phone. I called my lecturer, Mr Tshidiso Seitshiro, and he encouraged me with words of wisdom. I will be forever grateful to all TVET lecturers who took their time and believed in me.”
Those who graduated in the NDip TVT qualification will add to the 10 000 lecturers in the country (about half of whom are professionally qualified to teach at TVET colleges, although having the requisite skills in the respective fields), teaching more than 700 000 students across the 50 public TVET colleges.