FUNDING AND ENROLMENT CRISIS
Students shut down colleges to demand better governance
Over-enrolment is the latest setback for irate students demanding higher standards at TVET colleges
Over-enrolment has led to a standoff between students, colleges and the government, Higher Education and Training deputy director-general Firoz Patel said on Monday. Seven colleges out of a national total of 50 were fully closed and six partially closed in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo, said Patel. The South African Further Education and Training Student Association called for a shutdown of all 50 colleges until students’ demands were met. In an interview, Patel, who is in charge of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) colleges, said the sector had insufficient funding for infrastructure and equipment due to over-enrolment and Treasury budgetary constraints. "We have funding to cover 440,000 students and colleges have enrolled 710,535," he said.
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