A decolonial exploration of the national certificate vocational (NCV) curriculum: a case of two TVET colleges in KZN.

Abstract

The National Certificate Vocational (NCV) curriculum was introduced to position Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) as central to skills development and social transformation in South Africa. Yet, questions persist about whether the NCV genuinely responds to the lived realities and aspirations of students or merely reinforces Eurocentric frameworks that perpetuate historical exclusions. Against the backdrop of South Africa’s youth unemployment crisis and persistent inequalities, this study interrogates the NCV in two KwaZulu-Natal colleges through a decolonial lens. Drawing on decolonial theory and the total curriculum framework, the study examines how colonial legacies are reflected, resisted or reinforced in the design, implementation and lived experiences associated with the NCV. It employed a qualitative case study methodology, grounded in the critical paradigm and informed by decolonising research methodologies. Data was generated through collaborative storytelling interviews, focus group discussions, collages and metaphor drawings with lecturers and students. These participatory approaches were instrumental in foregrounding marginalised voices while capturing nuanced perspectives on curriculum practices. The findings reveal that while the NCV was conceived as a transformative and student-centred programme, its enactment is constrained by systemic barriers, including the privileging of Western epistemologies, misalignments with the labour market expectations and limited lecturer agency. Students often experience the curriculum as alienating, particularly where content and pedagogy fail to resonate with their social and cultural realities. Despite these challenges, participants articulated possibilities for reimagining vocational education to better affirm student’s identity, integrate indigenous knowledge systems and enhance relevance to local communities. The study contributes to scholarship on curriculum transformation in the under-researched topic of decolonisation in the TVET sector, by illuminating how colonial logic persist within vocational education and how decolonial approaches might foster epistemic justice. It offers critical insights for policy, practice and institutional reform, highlighting the urgency of creating vocational curricula that are contextually grounded, socially just and capable of restoring dignity and opportunity to South African youth.