5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has inspired learners to consider the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges to be a important and viable different for advancing their professions.
The Deputy Minister was speaking throughout an oversight visit to the post-school education and education (PSET) establishments in the Western Cape this week.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as critical for job creation and youth skills development from the region.
The Deputy Minister visited the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, plus the Cape Peninsula {University of Technological innovation (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits targeted at examining the point out of readiness of bigger education institutions across the nation, ahead of the 2025 academic year.
Throughout the visit at West Coast College, she encouraged learners to consider satisfaction in obtaining artisan expertise as they provide good entrepreneurship prospects.
"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 problems about college student residences and also other services. The Deputy Minister directed the institution to work with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily take care of the determined troubles.
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.
In the course of the visits, click here the Deputy Minister is get more info accompanied by crucial senior officials from Higher Education and Training, and the National Student Financial 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 issue of funding and administrative challenges faced via the NSFAS was from the spotlight in the course of the Free State leg from the visits.
"NSFAS needs to get its act together, in order to ensure that student more info 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 read more 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 here and Training, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane 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 other provinces, with North West higher education institutions being the next on the list.
– SAnews.gov.za