5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has encouraged learners to think about the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges being a precious and feasible option for advancing their careers.
The Deputy Minister was talking through an oversight visit to your post-school education and teaching (PSET) institutions in the Western Cape this week.
Gondwe explained the TVET colleges as critical for job creation and youth skills development inside the state.
The Deputy Minister visited the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, and the Cape Peninsula {University of Technologies (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits targeted at assessing the condition of readiness of bigger education institutions across the country, forward of your 2025 academic year.
In the course of the visit at West Coast College, she inspired learners to acquire delight in obtaining artisan abilities as they offer excellent entrepreneurship chances.
"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 more info intelligence], and coding," Gondwe said.
At the second part of the visit, college students at CPUT expressed concerns about student residences and also other amenities. The Deputy Minister directed the institution to work with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily take care of the recognized 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.
Throughout the visits, the Deputy Minister has long been accompanied by key 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 difficulty of funding and administrative worries confronted via the NSFAS was during the spotlight during the Free State leg from the visits.
"NSFAS elangeni tvet college needs to get its act together, in order to ensure that student allowances are paid on time with no more info 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 read more readiness visits following a plan of action, announced by Higher Education 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 website 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