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 to be a precious and viable substitute for advancing their professions.
The Deputy Minister was talking in the course of an oversight visit into the post-school education and coaching (PSET) institutions from the Western Cape this week.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as essential 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 directed at examining the point out of readiness of higher education institutions across the country, ahead from the 2025 academic year.
In the course of the visit at West Coast College, she inspired learners to choose delight in obtaining artisan abilities 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, students at CPUT expressed worries about student residences along with other services. The Deputy Minister directed the institution to work with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily resolve the determined difficulties.
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.
Over the visits, the get more info Deputy Minister has become accompanied by crucial senior officials from Higher Education and Training, and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
The Deputy Minister’s dedicated Help click here 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 from the NSFAS was in the spotlight over the Free State leg on the visits.
"NSFAS needs to get its act together, in order to ensure that student allowances are paid on time with no delays. tvet colleges open for applications 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 website 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 here oversight is expected to continue in other provinces, with North West higher education institutions being the next on the list.
– SAnews.gov.za