Decolonial Pedagogies and Africanisation in TVET: A Critical Examination of the NCV Curriculum in South Africa

Abstract

Technical and vocaƟonal educaƟon and training (TVET) in South Africa is oŌen framed as a technocraƟc response to unemployment and economic exclusion. The NaƟonal CerƟficate, VocaƟonal (NCV) was introduced to posiƟon vocaƟonal educaƟon as a pathway to social and economic inclusion for historically marginalised youth. However, within a context shaped by coloniality and persistent inequality, quesƟons remain about whose knowledges and experiences are legiƟmised through the NCV curriculum. Drawing on decolonial theory, this paper conceptualises the NCV as a contested site of power, knowledge, and social possibility. A qualitaƟve case study of two TVET colleges in KwaZuluNatal is used to examine how colonial epistemic logics are reproduced, negoƟated, and occasionally disrupted through curriculum design, pedagogical pracƟces, and students lived experiences. Using decolonising methods including focus groups, collaboraƟve storytelling, collages, and metaphor drawings, the study foregrounds marginalised voices and posiƟons research as a potenƟally dialogical and transformaƟve pracƟce. Findings reveal a persistent disjuncture between the NCV’s emancipatory policy intenƟons and its enactment. Despite policy commitments to responsiveness, the curriculum remains shaped by Eurocentric knowledge forms, constrained pedagogical agency, and weak alignment with local realiƟes. The paper argues that reclaiming vocaƟonal learning requires a shiŌ toward decolonial praxis that rehumanises and affirms vocaƟonal students as epistemic agents and co-creators of socially just futures.