The Citizen reports that the Economic Freedom Fighters’ Student Command (EFFSC) plans to take up the plight of thousands of students who studied at technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions and who have not received certificates from the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET).  

The EFFSC has joined the Congress of the People (Cope) in a renewed call for the government to issue and investigate the backlog in the release of certificates for TVET students, left struggling to get jobs because they have no means to prove their qualifications.  The EFF said they would embark on a shutdown campaign targeting the DHET and that the campaign would be launched on 20 September.  EFFSC national spokesperson Mangaliso Sambo said:  “We want to shut down the department because the TVET sector is failing to fulfil its purpose.”  Sambo condemned the department, saying the lack of action stifled the development of students who could not contribute to economic development, due to their inability to get jobs.  Cope has urged Parliament to act to ensure the certificates, some delayed since 2010, were issued and distributed.  Cope chief whip Deidre Carter, speaking in Parliament last week, described the situation as a “crisis.  Carter said that, “despite reassurances that the decade-long backlog had been attended to, we continue to receive multiple reports from frustrated, anxious and angst-ridden students and families alike.”

• Read this report by Eric Naki in full at The Citizen

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