5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has encouraged learners to evaluate the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges as a beneficial and practical option for advancing their occupations.
The Deputy Minister was talking throughout an oversight visit to your post-school education and schooling (PSET) establishments during the Western Cape this 7 days.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as critical for job creation and youth skills development from the state.
The Deputy Minister visited the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, as well as the Cape Peninsula {University of Technology (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits directed at assessing the point out of readiness of greater education institutions across the country, forward on the 2025 academic year.
Through the visit at West Coast College, she encouraged learners to get delight in buying artisan techniques as they provide great entrepreneurship opportunities.
"I'm very encouraged by what I'm seeing at TVET colleges, I believe they are the future of this country. TVETs are producing artisans with much needed skills [and] also offer opportunities for learners to acquire future skills, such as robotics, AI [Artificial intelligence], and coding," Gondwe said.
At the second part of the visit, college students at CPUT expressed worries tvet college courses without matric about college student residences and various amenities. The Deputy Minister directed the institution to operate with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily resolve the discovered issues.
The Deputy Minister’s visit to the Western Cape, follows her recent visit to higher education institutions in the Free State where she visited Goldfields TVET College and the Central University of Technology (CUT), at the Welkom campus.
During the visits, the Deputy Minister has been accompanied by key senior officials from Higher Education and Training, and the National western tvet college Student Financial website Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
The Deputy Minister’s dedicated Help Desk has also formed part of the delegation, assisting with all higher education related queries on each visit.
The difficulty of funding and administrative issues confronted from the NSFAS was during the spotlight in the course of the Free State leg of the visits.
"NSFAS needs to get its act together, in order to ensure that student allowances are paid on time with no delays. Delays cause serious challenges for learners; learners need allowances to eat and to buy hygiene products. This is important for their sense of wellbeing and dignity," Gondwe said.
Gondwe embarked on the state of readiness visits following a plan of action, announced by Higher Education and Training, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane read more at the special meeting of the Post Education and Training sector held in January 2025, to establish the state of readiness for the 2025 academic year.
The Deputy Minister's oversight is expected to continue in click here other provinces, with North West higher education institutions being the next on the list.
– SAnews.gov.za