A technikon was a post-secondary

institute of technology An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...

(polytech) in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

. It focused on career-oriented vocational training. There were 15 technikons in the 1990s, but they were merged or restructured as universities (especially universities of technology) in the early 2000s.

Etymology

The word comes from the Greek , meaning ‘technical’. (cf. Some technical schools were called technikums elsewhere in the world.)

List of technikons

} , , 1920–2005
, ,

Cape Peninsula University of Technology Cape Peninsula University of Technology, a university in Cape Town, South Africa, is the only university of technology in the Western Cape province, and is also the largest university in the province, with over 32,000 students. It was formed b ...

, - ,

Eastern Cape Technikon The Eastern Cape Technikon was an institution of higher education in South Africa. It was first established as an engineering campus of the University of Transkei in 1985 and received autonomy in 1994. In 2004, almost 9000 students registered at ...

← Transkei Technikon , , 1991–2005 , , Walter Sisulu University , - , Peninsula Technikon , , 1962-2005
, ,

, - , Port Elizabeth Technikon
(PE Technikon) , , 1882–2005
, ,

Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Nelson Mandela University (formerly known as ''Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU)'' ) and before that - the University of Port Elizabeth (UPE), the Port Elizabeth Technikon and Vista University's Port Elizabeth campus. This South Afr ...

, - , Technikon Pretoria , , 1968–2004
, ,

Tshwane University of Technology Tshwane University of Technology (TUT; af, Tshwane-Universiteit vir Tegnologie) is a higher education institution in South Africa that came into being through a merger of three technikons — Technikon Northern Gauteng, Technikon North-West an ...

, - , Technikon Natal , , 1907–2002
, , Durban Institute of Technology , - , Technikon North-West
← Setlogelo Technikon, 1994–97 , , 1976–2004
, ,

, - , Technikon Northern Gauteng
← Technikon Northern Transvaal, –1997 , , 1980–2004 , ,

, - , Technikon SA
(Technikon South Africa)
← Technikon RSA, 1980–93 , , 1980–2004 , , University of South Africa , - , Technikon Free State
, 1994-2004
← Technikon OFS / , 1988-1994 , , 1988?–2004 , , Central University of Technology , - , ML Sultan Technikon , , 1946–2002
, , Durban Institute of Technology , - , Mangosuthu Technikon , , 1979–2001 , ,

Mangosuthu University of Technology Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) is a university of technology situated in Umlazi near the city of Durban, South Africa, on a site overlooking the Indian Ocean. MUT is located in the academic hub in the eThekwini metropole. It is a resid ...

, - , Vaal Triangle Technikon
, , 1966–2003
, , Vaal University of Technology , - , Witwatersrand Technikon , , 1923–2005
, ,

University of Johannesburg The University of Johannesburg (UJ) is a public university located in Johannesburg, South Africa. The University of Johannesburg came into existence on 1 January 2005 as the result of a merger between the Rand Afrikaans University (RAU), the ...

In some sources, certain school names were reversed, e.g., Technikon Pretoria or Pretoria Technikon. Likewise, Witwatersrand Technikon or Technikon Witwatersrand; Natal Technikon or Technikon Natal; Free State Technikon or Technikon Free State.

History

Some technical colleges were founded in the early to mid-20th century in the country. In 1967, four technical colleges (Cape, Pretoria, Witwatersrand and Natal) became "colleges of advanced technical education". Two more such colleges (Vaal and

Witwatersrand The Witwatersrand () (locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which ...

) were added by 1969. These six colleges became the first technikons in 1979. In the 1980s and 1990s, 9 more technikons were constituted, bringing up the total to 15. Compared to universities, technikons were not seen as prestigious. The Committee of Technikon Principals felt that "the name ''technikon'' had become a stumbling block", as their graduates were not recognized by professional associations, especially internationally. Tshwane University of Technology

Mergers and reorganisations were announced in 2002, drastically reducing the number of technikons. By 2006, after a process to transform the nation’s "higher education landscape", there were no technikons left.

Student compositions

During

Apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

, the schools were divided into historically white technikons (HWTs) and historically black technikons (HBTs). The seven white technikons include the 'big four' (Cape, Pretoria, Witwatersrand and Natal), which had the most students (6000–11000 in 1991). The other white technikons were Free State, Port Elizabeth, and Vaal Triangle. SA was for

distance learning Distance education, also known as distance learning, is the education of students who may not always be physically present at a school, or where the learner and the teacher are separated in both time and distance. Traditionally, this usually in ...

, with a slight majority of whites. Northern Gauteng and Mangosuthu were black technikons. Peninsula was classified as a , but it was mostly attended by Coloureds. ML Sultan was also nominally a HBT, but was mostly attended by Indians. Three technikons were created in

bantustan A Bantustan (also known as Bantu homeland, black homeland, black state or simply homeland; ) was a territory that the National Party administration of South Africa set aside for black inhabitants of South Africa and South West Africa (now ...

s; these had the lowest enrollments: Border ( Ciskei), Eastern Cape (

Transkei Transkei (, meaning ''the area beyond he riverKei''), officially the Republic of Transkei ( xh, iRiphabliki yeTranskei), was an unrecognised state in the southeastern region of South Africa from 1976 to 1994. It was, along with Ciskei, a Ba ...

), and North-West (initially named ''Setlogelo''; in Bophuthatswana).

Degrees

In 1993, the ''Technikon Act'' (No. 125) enabled technikons to provide degree studies and confer degrees. Several technikon programmes were possible: * national higher certificate (2 years) * (3 years): 75% of technikon enrollments were in this diploma. ** 2 years of theoretical training, plus ** 1 year of experiential training with an industrial employer * national higher diploma (4 years) * bachelor’s degree in technology (B-Tech: 4 years) * in some schools: master’s degree (M-Tech: 1 year minimum) * in some schools: doctoral degree (D-Tech: 2 years minimum). White technikons and ML Sultan Technikon offered degrees at all three levels (bachelor’s, master’s and doctorates), but others did not.

References

The years for some older school names are from: * * {{cite web , title=South Africa - Technical and Vocational Qualifications , url= https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/66898.htm , website=Operation Manual , location=New Zealand , date=2015, archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190124192919/https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/66898.htm , archive-date= 2019-01-24 School types Vocational education in South Africa Higher education in South Africa