The department finally secured the extension we demanded for our B.Tech students. This victory belongs to all 1,641 people who pushed back against this unfair policy. We must remain vigilant to ensure every school implements these changes immediately.
May 4, 2019
Final supporters
As gazetted in the Government Gazette, Vol. 613, No. 40123, 06 July 2016, the last date for first-time students, enrolling in academic programmes that are not aligned with the Higher Education Qualifications Sub-Framework, is the 31st December 2019. This means that you will not be able to enrol for a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) Degree at any institution in South Africa after this date. There are students who are still completing the National Diploma qualification in many institutions nationwide. By the time they complete the National Diploma qualification, they will be unable to enrol for B.Tech degree. The challenge facing candidates with the National Diploma qualification is that they won't be able to further their studies due to a lack of an immediately available bridging course to attaining a BEng qualification. These are the following reasons which highlight the unfairness process of the B.Tech qualification being phased out:
- Students who enrolled for National Diploma in 2015-2016 were not informed about the phasing out of B.Tech Degree. These students were not aware of the limited chances of continuing with their qualification.
- There are students who completed their theoretical subjects (S1-S4 Modules) however are still battling to finding In-service training, which makes it impossible for them to enrol for BTech on time. Both the Government and Institutions are not assisting the affected students.
- If you do not meet the requirements to enrol for B.tech Degree, you are required to have at least ONE-year work experience. Many students have completed their National Diploma qualification yet are still seeking employment. There is a high possibility, they will not meet the deadline for registration of the B.Tech Degree.
- We are aware of the advance diploma qualification as an alternative to the B.Tech degree however it won't be offered in all Universities of Technology in South Africa and that will lead to slow progress of going up the academic status.
Based on these points mentioned above we would like to challenge the motion of removing the BTech curriculum as it will affect students nationwide and as a result will cause a significant and detrimental effect on the future employment and studies of such students who are affected by this unfair change.
Signing this petition means that you fully support this movement of having the BTech curriculum extended so that students have enough time to complete their BTech studies as well as find in-service training.
Furthermore, it should be made a point that universities of technology should make new students aware that they will no longer provide national diploma studies at their institutions so as to prevent students from being misled and causing a backlog in the academic tertiary system.
Updates
Reached 1,000 supporters
February 16, 2019
February 16, 2019
The stories coming in from students stranded by this policy change are heartbreaking and confirm that we are fighting a real systemic failure. Send a copy of this petition to your local member of parliament today to demand they address this transition gap. Post the link on your Facebook wall so more students realize they are not alone in this struggle.
Reached 100 supporters
February 14, 2019
February 13, 2019
We need to hit the 1,000 signature mark to force a meeting with the department. Text three classmates right now and tell them to sign before the day ends.
948 Comments
Most of us are struggling to get an in-service training and we were not told on 2016 about this phasing out of B-tech. So I go with the point that this B-tech should be extended with at least 3 years for students to further the national diploma and do B-tech.
BTech matters because having one does NOT mean you are uneducated or under-educated, people doing other qualifications like BEng and BSc also learn as those doing BTech learn, moral of the story is that education is education. Knowledge is acquired in different ways.
The Government must fund btech, you can say im poor whilst doing my diploma and when i want to continue with then the same Government is refusing to fund. We want and educated society and btech funding is the first in achieving that
The only reason B. Tech is being phased out is because industry incentivises more degree graduates. An unbalanced favour towards degree graduates may yield a backlog in hand on skills in future. Removing B. Tech is not the best proposal.
BTech should stay, it has proven to produce brilliant professionals and it is absolutely unfair to remove the program without students having an opportunity to complete BTech, that too through no fault of their own. Please be realistic and let BTech continue
I would like to work abroad, but having the advanced diploma instead of the btech has become a real hindrance in my job search.
There is advance diploma which cater for ND:Engineering students
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Share this petition to help it reach more people.
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The department finally secured the extension we demanded for our B.Tech students. This victory belongs to all 1,641 people who pushed back against this unfair policy. We must remain vigilant to ensure every school implements these changes immediately.
May 4, 2019
Final supporters
As gazetted in the Government Gazette, Vol. 613, No. 40123, 06 July 2016, the last date for first-time students, enrolling in academic programmes that are not aligned with the Higher Education Qualifications Sub-Framework, is the 31st December 2019. This means that you will not be able to enrol for a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) Degree at any institution in South Africa after this date. There are students who are still completing the National Diploma qualification in many institutions nationwide. By the time they complete the National Diploma qualification, they will be unable to enrol for B.Tech degree. The challenge facing candidates with the National Diploma qualification is that they won't be able to further their studies due to a lack of an immediately available bridging course to attaining a BEng qualification. These are the following reasons which highlight the unfairness process of the B.Tech qualification being phased out:
- Students who enrolled for National Diploma in 2015-2016 were not informed about the phasing out of B.Tech Degree. These students were not aware of the limited chances of continuing with their qualification.
- There are students who completed their theoretical subjects (S1-S4 Modules) however are still battling to finding In-service training, which makes it impossible for them to enrol for BTech on time. Both the Government and Institutions are not assisting the affected students.
- If you do not meet the requirements to enrol for B.tech Degree, you are required to have at least ONE-year work experience. Many students have completed their National Diploma qualification yet are still seeking employment. There is a high possibility, they will not meet the deadline for registration of the B.Tech Degree.
- We are aware of the advance diploma qualification as an alternative to the B.Tech degree however it won't be offered in all Universities of Technology in South Africa and that will lead to slow progress of going up the academic status.
Based on these points mentioned above we would like to challenge the motion of removing the BTech curriculum as it will affect students nationwide and as a result will cause a significant and detrimental effect on the future employment and studies of such students who are affected by this unfair change.
Signing this petition means that you fully support this movement of having the BTech curriculum extended so that students have enough time to complete their BTech studies as well as find in-service training.
Furthermore, it should be made a point that universities of technology should make new students aware that they will no longer provide national diploma studies at their institutions so as to prevent students from being misled and causing a backlog in the academic tertiary system.
Updates
Reached 1,000 supporters
February 16, 2019
February 16, 2019
The stories coming in from students stranded by this policy change are heartbreaking and confirm that we are fighting a real systemic failure. Send a copy of this petition to your local member of parliament today to demand they address this transition gap. Post the link on your Facebook wall so more students realize they are not alone in this struggle.
Reached 100 supporters
February 14, 2019
February 13, 2019
We need to hit the 1,000 signature mark to force a meeting with the department. Text three classmates right now and tell them to sign before the day ends.
948 Comments
I am still doing my inserve training,I was never formed about the phasing out of B-Tech, If the B-Tech is phasing out, why did Universities allowed students to register in 2017 for national diploma if they'll soon phase B-Tech out?
Most of us are struggling to get an in-service training and we were not told on 2016 about this phasing out of B-tech. So I go with the point that this B-tech should be extended with at least 3 years for students to further the national diploma and do B-tech.
BTech matters because having one does NOT mean you are uneducated or under-educated, people doing other qualifications like BEng and BSc also learn as those doing BTech learn, moral of the story is that education is education. Knowledge is acquired in different ways.
The Government must fund btech, you can say im poor whilst doing my diploma and when i want to continue with then the same Government is refusing to fund. We want and educated society and btech funding is the first in achieving that
The only reason B. Tech is being phased out is because industry incentivises more degree graduates. An unbalanced favour towards degree graduates may yield a backlog in hand on skills in future. Removing B. Tech is not the best proposal.
BTech should stay, it has proven to produce brilliant professionals and it is absolutely unfair to remove the program without students having an opportunity to complete BTech, that too through no fault of their own. Please be realistic and let BTech continue
I would like to work abroad, but having the advanced diploma instead of the btech has become a real hindrance in my job search.
There is advance diploma which cater for ND:Engineering students
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I am still doing my inserve training,I was never formed about the phasing out of B-Tech, If the B-Tech is phasing out, why did Universities allowed students to register in 2017 for national diploma if they'll soon phase B-Tech out?