The construction of stadiums to host the 2010 World Cup exposed a critical gap in South Africa’s education system. The shortage was not a lack of engineers, but rather a shortage of the artisans and technicians needed to bring engineering designs to life. Sasol Foundation’s initial response to rebuilding local technical skills has evolved into the Technical Schools of Excellence Network (TechSENet), an initiative that is redefining the nation’s technical education standards.
Technical and vocational training fell out of favour in post-apartheid South Africa. Between the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE) focus on academic pathways to drive upward social mobility and the stigma associated with artisan skills being reserved for learners perceived as being less academically gifted, once well-equipped vocational training workshops fell into disuse. Sasol Foundation technical education development advisor Dr Cynthia Xoli Malinga says that career guidance still often prioritises the academic role of the engineer, overlooking the many artisans responsible for delivering critical infrastructure and technology products.
Recognising the need for a pipeline of skilled artisans, technicians and technologists to support the country’s engineering industrial base, Sasol set out to rebuild technical education in South Africa. What began as an experimental pilot project to reinvigorate John Orr Technical High School in 2012, expanded to five schools and led to the establishment of TechSENet by 2015. With the help of partners, the network has now grown to 14 schools across Gauteng, Free State, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal.
TechSENet’s model for success
The TechSENet model is strategic in its support of the National Development Goal to produce 30 000 artisans annually by 2030. The programme aims to transform ordinary schools into fully equipped technical and vocational institutions that equip learners with the trade and engineering skills so sorely needed in South Africa. It delivers on this objective by:
- Ensuring that the education curriculum is aligned with industry needs, guaranteeing real demand for the skills being developed.
- Emphasising upskilling trainers to ensure they deliver quality education to learners.
- Providing well-equipped, fully resourced learning facilities that support technical and vocational education goals.
Since its inception, the programme has made a significant mark on the technical education landscape. Fourteen schools have fully transitioned into technical schools of excellence, with one new technical school established in 2019. Forty-four Sector Education and Training Authority (SETA)-aligned workshops have been refurbished. More than 800 technical teachers have participated in training programmes every year.
Schools in the network have demonstrated remarkable improvements in learner results, consistently achieving pass rates above 80% and reaching 90% in 2024. Eighty percent of network schools have seen a 100% pass rate in multiple technical subjects year on year.
Malinga says these results have proven highly motivating for learners struggling to meet the expectations of high academic success and are driving increased learner enrolment of 23% to 200% per school.
Investing in educators
Teacher development is a pivotal part of TechSENet’s approach, as Malinga asserts, “Teachers have a more lasting impact on the education system than learners.”
The programme provides continuous in-service training in vocational instruction, assessment and digital tools, along with access to subject-specific conferences and communities of practice.
The positive impact on teacher careers reveals the programme’s success: six educators have become principals, five have been promoted to heads of department, one to deputy principal and one has been appointed as a subject advisor.
In 2016, the foundation launched the annual Technical Educators Conference. Providing a national platform for collaboration, the event attracts more than 800 delegates each year, exposing them to technical education innovations, equipment and machinery. Academic experts, policymakers and industry leaders offer workshops and masterclasses that drive the development of technical education pedagogy.
Beyond the classroom
In an effort to reach learners outside the network, the Sasol Foundation launched the TechSENet National Skills Competition in 2018. The competition, which showcases student potential and technical excellence, has grown from a single province and subject to encompass 10 specialisations across all nine provinces.
The competition reaches more than 15 000 learners annually through competitions and learning interventions. It showcases the integration of artificial intelligence, coding, robotics and sustainable design into school workshops, exposing learners to modern learning technologies.
Industry partners use the competition as a way to identify talent, offering apprenticeships to high-performing learners.
“Technical vocational education is part of the solution to our country’s unemployment problem. You can never go hungry with a skill.”
Dr Cynthia Xoli Malinga
Overcoming programme challenges
The TechSENet programme bears its share of challenges. Establishing and maintaining functional and safe training workshops is an expensive undertaking. Malinga notes that the costs of equipment and materials are substantial and that machinery can require specialised maintenance that schools cannot provide, relying on funders to support repair and replacements. High electricity consumption and equipment theft also present ongoing challenges.
Technical training at school level demands an extra level of commitment from trainers as it often requires extended school days and special timetable accommodations. On this, Malinga states that school leadership plays a crucial role in the programme’s success. School leaders with technical vocational backgrounds, or a genuine interest in the space, tend to drive better outcomes, willingly allocating the time and budgets to support technical training and supply the required consumables.
The programme’s most persistent challenge, however, is parental attitudes. “We still have a long way to go when it comes to shifting the stigma associated with technical education,” says Malinga, explaining that, despite the enthusiasm and success of learners, many parents still push their children towards university rather than apprenticeship opportunities. While university education remains out of reach for many students – whether due to their academic results, the high cost, or capacity limitations – technical and vocational work presents an opportunity for rapid earnings. “Evidence shows that apprentices can begin earning almost immediately, while medical students, for example, accumulate debt, with doctors only reaching comparable lifetime earnings to plumbers after about 15 years.”
The power of partnerships
Malinga says that much of TechSENet’s success can be attributed to its purpose-driven partnerships. Collaborations with education stakeholders, philanthropic organisations, government and industry have enabled programme scaling and established its impact in the country’s education and skills development ecosystem, valued at over R102 million since the programme’s inception.
Kagiso Trust’s participation since 2020 has contributed 70% of the programme’s current financial resources in one province, enabling the expansion of the programme’s reach to additional schools and provinces.
The programme also partners with industry partners, SETAs, the DBE and the Adopt-a-School Foundation to ensure comprehensive school development. These partnerships, along with the growing interest and recognition from additional partners and schools seeking to become TechSENet schools, have solidified the programme’s corporate value.
Looking towards a skilled future
The TechSENet programme supports the DBE’s renewed interest in multiple learning pathways as a means to address South Africa’s skills crisis. Malinga says the ‘three-streams’ model, which validates vocational and occupational learning pathways as well as academic pathways, will see a more balanced approach to education.
“We would like to see at least one Technical School of Excellence in each of South Africa’s 85 districts, where other technical schools can access resources and training,” enthuses Malinga.
The Sasol Foundation’s TechSENet programme offers an example of the social value that company vision, combined with partnerships and sustained investment, can deliver.
Dr Cynthia Xoli Malinga
Sasol Foundation Technical Education Development Advisor
