TVET students in South Africa seek funded placements to complete their diplomas
TVET students across South Africa say they are unable to graduate despite completing their studies, as a nationwide petition calling for funded in-service training placements gains momentum.
Now backed by more than 30,000 signatures, the petition submitted to the Department of Higher Education and Training over two months ago calls for urgent intervention in the 18-month in-service training requirement needed to obtain National Accredited Technical Education Diplomas (NATED), which students say has left them stuck in limbo for years without placement or qualification.
“At the moment, I am stuck because I have not been able to secure placement,” said TVET student Kanyane Ruth Phahlamohlaka, one of thousands of young people across South Africa who say they are unable to graduate despite completing all theoretical requirements for their diplomas.
Phahlamohlaka is among students caught in a national backlog linked to the compulsory 18-month in-service training required after completing N4–N6 qualifications, a requirement they say has become an impossible final hurdle due to a lack of structured, funded placements.
“I have successfully completed all my theoretical studies, and currently, I am at the final stage, which requires practical workplace experience to graduate.”
But securing that experience, she said, has proven nearly impossible.
“Opportunities are limited, and many organisations either do not respond or require experience, which makes it even harder for students like me to get a chance. It feels like being stuck in one place while others are moving forward,” Phahlamohlaka said.
The petition, started by Norman Mathebula in 2024, was submitted to the Department of Higher Education and Training more than two months ago.
Mathebula said he launched the petition after completing his N4–N6 in Public Management in 2023, but was unable to secure in-service training despite applying to multiple institutions.
“This experience made me realise that the problem is not individual, but systemic, affecting thousands of TVET students across the country,” he said.
The issue centres on a structural requirement that students must complete 18 months of workplace-based training before receiving a diploma, even after finishing all academic coursework.
“The requirement of 18 months of in-service training creates a major barrier,” Mathebula said.
“Even after completing all theoretical studies, students cannot graduate or receive their diplomas without practical training. This leaves us stuck in limbo because we are qualified on paper, but not recognised as graduates.”
He said some students wait years to secure placements.
“Many students wait for years, in some cases two to five years, without getting placement,” Mathebula said. “Some students have been waiting since as far back as 2015.”
During that time, students say they are forced into unemployment or low-paid survival work while their qualifications remain incomplete.
“For many of us, working without pay is simply not sustainable, especially when you have transport and basic living costs. I live in a rural area, and volunteering would require me to travel to town every day, which costs around R50 per day,” he said.
“Over time, this becomes unaffordable.”
The petition also raises concerns that the National Student Financial Aid Scheme does not fund the in-service training period, leaving students without financial support during a mandatory stage of their qualification.
“In-service training is part of our studies, not employment, yet students are expected to survive without any support,” Mathebula said.
He added that communication from institutions and the government has been limited.
“So far, there has been little to no direct response regarding the petition,” he said.
Youth development organisation Youth Capital said the issue reflects a deeper structural failure in the transition from education to work.
Communication lead Murphy Nganga said the in-service training bottleneck represents “one of the most critical breaks in South Africa’s education-to-work transition”.
“Young people complete their N4–N6 studies expecting to move into the final stage of their qualification, but instead, they are blocked by an 18-month in-service training requirement that is not guaranteed, not funded in a structured way, and not equitably accessible,” he said.
Nganga said the result is that young people become trapped in a “holding space” between education and employment.
“They are no longer fully students, but they are also not able to enter the labour market as qualified graduates.”
He added that the system creates “qualification without employability”, where completion of studies does not translate into access to work.
“There is no guaranteed national system for in-service training placements,” Nganga said. “Access depends on geography, networks, and employer availability rather than a coordinated national framework.”
Youth Capital is calling for stronger state coordination, integration of Public Employment Programmes into TVET pathways, and dedicated funding for workplace-based learning.
The Department of Higher Education and Training acknowledged the enquiry but did not confirm receiving the petition. Although it requested 48 hours to respond, it had not commented by the time of publication.
For students like Phahlamohlaka, the delay has been life-changing.
“If nothing changes soon, many students will remain stuck without qualifications,” she said.
