Factors that affect the failure rate of trade test candidates in technical and vocational and training colleges in Cape Town, South Africa

Abstract

The country has been struggling with shortages of skills and a high unemployment rate. The need for qualified technical artisans has grown rapidly. There is a high failure rate of trade tests by student artisans, which is causing damage to the country’s skills development efforts. According to the 2017 Parliament Portfolio Committee on Education report, there were about 4,007 trade test candidates in quarter 3 of 2017/2018 who were tested and only 2,190 candidates passed the test, a number that contributes to the shortage of skills in the country. Problem statement: The country has been struggling with shortages of skills and a high unemployment rate. The need for qualified technical artisans has grown rapidly. There is a high failure rate of artisan trade test candidates (TTCs), which is causing damage to the country’s skills development initiatives. This failure rate of TTCs remains a fundamental barrier to fulfilling the artisan demands of the country. The main research question was formulated as follows: “What are the main factors that affect the failure rate of the engineering trade test in TVET colleges?” The aim of study was to explore the factors that affect the high failure rates of TTCs at TVET institutions. A qualitative approach was used as the research methodology to analyse the challenges TTCs experienced during the trial period, the quality analysis of the process and the data collection for the success rate and failure rate over a period of time. • Research strategy: The research strategy presented a description of the research process and how it was applied. The strategy followed was that of a survey (qualitative). • Data collection: Semi-structured Interview guides were used (Appendix B). An interview guide (Appendix B) was used to elicit the answers from the participants. The interviews were recorded, and notes were taken to support the recordings (Chapter 3, section 3.6). • Data analysis: The collected data were transcribed and coded. A total of 52 findings were realised. The following are the headline findings: i) instructors are unavailable to assist students to prepare for the trade tests; ii) there is a lack material in the workshops for trade test training for preparation of the TTC; iii) the TVET syllabus is outdated and some of the work required by the companies is not covered by the syllabus; and iv) the syllabus does not relate to new technology. It is concluded that trade test preparation poses some challenges because of the learning processes that are not covered by TVET colleges, and the lack of resources needed by the student to prepare for the trade test. While TVETs provide valuable training, there is still a gap between what is demanded by industry and what TVET institutions are able to provide. Ethics: Participants signed an informed consent document and were made aware of the confidentially of their participation. They were also informed that they may stop participating at any point in the research.