Social geographies of participation and success: narratives of six students in a technical vocational and educational training (TVET) college in Northern KwaZulu-Natal.

Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2019Challenges pertaining to social geographies of participation and success among students from low socio-economic backgrounds have been a bone of contention and areas of intense academic contestation in post-apartheid and democratic South Africa. Academics have tried to unravel variables, which impede or promote participation and success among students from low socio-economic backgrounds, with a special focus on constructing policy models, which cater for a socio-legal and academic needs of disadvantaged students. It is against this background that a study of social geographies of participation and success in a TVET college in Northern KwaZulu-Natal was conducted. This was a qualitative study, located in the critical paradigm, which aimed at analysing students’ social geographies of access, participation and success in a public College in Northern KwaZulu-Natal. The study was undertaken through the development and understanding of the experiences of six students in a TVET college in KwaZulu-Natal province. Research data was collected through one-on-one semi-structured interviews, which were transcribed, coded and finally categorised into themes, which the researcher used during the process of data analysis. Document analysis was also used to find out students’ participation and success rates in the TVET College. To establish students’ level of involvement and achievement in the TVET College, the researcher used attendance registers to find out the number of students who enrolled for Information Technology, Education and Development and Financial Management cohorts at levels NCV level 2, 3 and 4. An analysis of the number of students who enrolled for NCV level 2, 3 and 4 revealed that there was a marked difference between the number of students who registered for education and training programmes at NCV level 2 and those who registered for the same programmes at level 3 and 4. In short, the number of students who registered for NCV level 2 programmes was higher than the number of returning students at NCV level 3 and 4. A comparative analysis of the reasons why students experience reduced and extraordinary academic outcomes at NCV level 2 showed that the students’ lack of preparation for the NCV programme, attitudes of scholars towards their college work, poor attendance by both students and lecturers, lack of inspiration in the majority of students who register for NCV level 2, pleasant relationships between the students and lecturers, a good educational context in the relevant curriculum subjects, self-inspiration on the part of the student all contributed to either reduced or higher academic outcomes by students in the TVET college under study