A technikon was a post-secondary institute of technology (polytech) in South Africa.
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 wikt:τεχνικός|, meaning 'technical'. (cf. Some technical schools were called technikums elsewhere in the world.)
List of technikons
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Institute !! Existence !! Now
|-
| Border Technikon <br /> Ciskei Technikon, 1980s || 1987
thumb|200px|[[Tshwane University of Technology combined 3 technikons.]]
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, 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, 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.
- 2 years of theoretical training, plus
- 1 year of experiential training with an industrial employer
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: