South Africa has the best technical college in the world

Sol-Tech, founded in 2007 by the trade union Solidarity with 3 staff members and 64 students, has developed into the best technical training college in the world.

This information was shared by Solidarity chief executive, Dirk Hermann, during an interview with Newsday.

He explained that Sol-Tech was founded to provide world-class vocational and technical training in Afrikaans.

The educational institution also aimed to address the shortage of practical trade skills in South Africa.

Today, it is an accredited private tertiary institution which focuses on scarce practical skills, like welders, fitters and turners, toolmakers, electricians, and millwrights.

It also offers courses in diesel mechanics, tractor mechanics, and auto electricians, with plans to expand into more disciplines in the future.

Sol-Tech stands out for its unique approach to artisan training and the quality of the skilled professionals it produces.

Hermann explained that when you visit Sol-Tech, you get a university feel. “The reason for that is that we want artisans to take pride in their trade,” he said.

The institution has strict entrance criteria, similar to those of many high-end universities, to ensure the best quality students.

“I took the admission test required to get into Sol-Tech, and I failed. I realised I wasn’t clever enough to go to Sol-Tech. I had to go to university instead,” Hermann joked.

“That is our first recipe for success. Teaching our students that being an artisan is an inherently worthy profession.”

He said that their approach has been a huge success. “When you go there, they feel so proud of what they do,” Hermann said.

Building the best technical college in the world

Solidarity unveiled its R300-million Sol-Tech technical training college campus in Monument Park, Pretoria, in 2021.

Hermann explained that they created the world’s best technical training college through a unique funding approach.

“We visited technical colleges all across the world, including America and Germany, and we came back with the best practices,” he said.

“We deliberately decided to build the best technical college in the world, and that is what Sol-Tech is today. The best in the world.”

To fund the new Sol-Tech campus, they relied on R10 donations from the Solidarity community, who are mostly blue-collar workers.

“Sol-Tech was built on R10 donations. The biggest investment in Sol-Tech came from the R10 contributions of ordinary blue-collar workers,” he said.

“That is why Sol-Tech is alive today. When you go to Sol-Tech, you see a living community, and that exists because of those ten-rand donations.”

He added that, unlike many other tertiary institutions, they go beyond training students. They shape them to be productive citizens.

“We shape them within a specific value system, and it is that value system that makes them successful in the workplace,” he said.

“It’s not just technical training, but also values. That is why a company will explicitly state in a job advertisement that they want Sol-Tech-qualified artisans.”

He said that when students leave Sol-Tech, they have both excellent technical skills and a strong professional work ethic.

The Sol-Tech campus construction

The Sol-Tech campus was built on a property initially purchased by Solidarity’s property investment arm, Kanton Investments.

What makes the construction of the campus notable is that it was completed under budget and ahead of schedule.

Kanton Managing Director Henk Schalekamp said that project planning included 1,600 architectural plans, 1,500 structural and civil plans, and 1,350 electrical plans.

During the peak of construction, there were around 500 workers on site, and 20,000 bricks were laid per day.

Construction on the campus started on 13 September 2019, with an initial completion date set for 1 December 2020.

As with the rest of the industry, Kanton shut down construction on the campus during the initial COVID-19 lockdown period in 2020.

“External work, such as roads and storm water, was stopped from 26 March 2020 until 1 May 2020,” Schalekamp said.

“The internal construction of the actual campus development was stopped from 26 March 2020 to 1 June 2020.”

Schalekamp said that due to the COVID-19 lockdown, the project’s completion date was extended to March 2021.

However, by the original date of 1 December 2020, the project was finished, in line with the original schedule and 40 days ahead of the new completion date.

The new Sol-Tech campus includes seven workshops, classrooms for theory lessons, and a cafeteria with 400 seats.

There is also a 40,000-litre water tank and a 600 kVA generator to provide backup water and electricity if the municipal supply is cut off.

Following the completion of the campus, Kanton developed a 400-bed student residence for Sol-Tech students.

Earthworks for the residence began on 1 May 2023, and the 400-bed facility was finished and welcomed its first resident students in October 2024.

Sol-Tech photos

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