article · Journal of Education
This study investigates the challenges and transformative potential of South Africa's Technical and Vocational Education and Training sector. Focusing on fifteen vocational graduates in Gqeberha, the research reveals a significant disconnect between what students aspire to achieve and their actual post-graduation outcomes. Many graduates encounter ongoing obstacles when seeking employment, pursuing higher education, or establishing entrepreneurial ventures. These difficulties stem from curricula that do not respond adequately to student needs, an absence of dialogical engagement, and weak institutional support networks. Traditional employment-oriented training models often neglect vital aspects of social inclusion, personal agency, and equity. The findings demonstrate that integrating participatory, problem-posing pedagogies can transform vocational programmes into spaces of genuine empowerment rather than narrow technical training. Ultimately, the research calls for systemic curriculum reform alongside stronger community and industry linkages to support youth transitions.
Vocational colleges are widely promoted as a key solution to youth unemployment and economic stagnation. However, training models focused solely on immediate job skills frequently fail to deliver viable livelihoods. Understanding why curricula fall short and how to build personal agency, critical thinking, and stronger community linkages helps policymakers and educators design vocational systems that provide genuine social inclusion and sustainable economic paths for youth.
This work informs curriculum design and institutional policy within vocational education and training sectors. As an early-stage qualitative study, it offers no direct commercial product. However, its insights could be applied by educational policymakers, public vocational colleges, and private training providers seeking to reform curricula, design participatory learning frameworks, and build stronger institutional ties with industry and local communities.
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In this article, I examine the transformative potential and persistent challenges in South Africa's Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) sector from a Freirean perspective, situating the analysis within broader global debates on vocational education and youth transitions. Using a qualitative Participatory Action Research (PAR) design, I engaged a purposive sample of 15 National Certificate (Vocational) [NC(V)] graduates in Gqeberha, South Africa. Data was generated through life narrative interviews and Learning Cycle Group (LCG) discussions, and analysed thematically using Freirean concepts of conscientisation, dialogue, and praxis. The findings reveal a significant misalignment between student aspirations and post-graduation realities, with graduates experiencing persistent barriers to employment, further education, and entrepreneurship. These challenges are linked to limited curriculum responsiveness, insufficient dialogical engagement, and weak institutional support systems. Consistent with international evidence on vocational education systems, the study highlights how employment-oriented models often fail to address broader issues of inclusion, agency, and social justice. I argue for a reimagined TVET curriculum grounded in Freire's problem-posing pedagogy-one that promotes critical consciousness, social responsibility, and structural engagement. I contribute to the literature by demonstrating how participatory and humanising pedagogies can reposition vocational education as a site of empowerment rather than mere skills training. Practically, the findings suggest the need for curriculum reform, stronger industry and community linkages, and the institutionalisation of participatory learning spaces to support graduate transitions and social inclusion.
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DOI: 10.17159/2520-9868/i105a01
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