5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has inspired learners to think about the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges for a worthwhile and viable alternate for advancing their occupations.
The Deputy Minister was speaking in the course of an oversight visit for the post-school education and education (PSET) establishments in the Western Cape this 7 days.
Gondwe explained the TVET colleges as important for job creation and youth skills development inside the country.
The Deputy Minister visited the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, along with the Cape Peninsula {University of Technological know-how (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits geared toward evaluating the point out of readiness of better education institutions across the nation, ahead of your 2025 academic year.
Over the visit at West Coast College, she encouraged learners to consider pride in acquiring artisan abilities as they offer wonderful 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, students at CPUT expressed fears about college student residences and various facilities. The Deputy Minister directed the institution to operate with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily solve the identified concerns.
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 visits, the Deputy Minister continues to be accompanied by key senior officials from Higher Education and Training, and the National Student Financial western tvet college 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 problem of funding and administrative troubles faced from the NSFAS was in the spotlight during the Free State leg in the visits.
"NSFAS needs to get its act together, in order to ensure that student website 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 tvet colleges open for applications following a plan of action, announced by Higher Education and Training, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane at here 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, click here with North West higher education institutions being the next on the list.
– SAnews.gov.za