5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has encouraged learners to consider the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges to be a precious and viable different for advancing their careers.
The Deputy Minister was speaking all through an oversight visit on the post-school education and teaching (PSET) institutions while in the Western Cape this 7 days.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as vital for job creation and youth skills development during the country.
The Deputy Minister visited the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, plus the Cape Peninsula {University of Know-how (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits aimed at assessing the condition of readiness of increased education institutions across the nation, in advance from the 2025 academic year.
In the course of the visit at West Coast College, she inspired learners to choose pride in acquiring artisan expertise as they provide good entrepreneurship alternatives.
"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 concerns about college student residences and other facilities. The Deputy Minister directed the institution to operate with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily take care of the discovered challenges.
The Deputy Minister’s visit to the Western Cape, follows more info 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 visits, the Deputy Minister has been accompanied by key senior officers 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 difficulty of funding and administrative troubles faced through the NSFAS was thekwini tvet college inside the spotlight throughout the Free State leg of the visits.
"NSFAS needs to get its act together, in order to ensure that student allowances are paid read more 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 at the special meeting of click here the Post Education and Training sector held in January 2025, read more 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