5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has encouraged learners to look at the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges to be a beneficial and practical substitute for advancing their professions.
The Deputy Minister was speaking throughout an oversight visit on the post-school education and coaching (PSET) establishments inside the Western Cape this 7 days.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as very important for job creation and youth skills development while in the state.
The Deputy Minister frequented the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, along with the Cape Peninsula {University of Know-how (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits geared toward evaluating the state of readiness of better education institutions across the country, forward of your 2025 academic year.
Throughout the visit at West Coast College, she inspired learners to get satisfaction in obtaining artisan competencies as they supply wonderful entrepreneurship possibilities.
"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 issues about student residences and various services. The Deputy Minister directed the establishment to work with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily solve the discovered 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 course of the visits, the Deputy Minister continues to be accompanied by vital 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 more info difficulty of funding and administrative challenges confronted from the NSFAS was in the spotlight during the Free State leg of your 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 website 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 read more 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 tvet colleges open for applications 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 website the next on the list.
– SAnews.gov.za