5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has encouraged learners to evaluate the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges being a beneficial and viable choice for advancing their careers.
The Deputy Minister was speaking throughout an oversight visit to your post-school education and instruction (PSET) establishments in the Western Cape this week.
Gondwe explained the TVET colleges as vital for job creation and youth skills development from the country.
The Deputy Minister visited the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, along with the Cape Peninsula {University of Engineering (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits targeted at evaluating the point out of readiness of bigger education institutions across the nation, in advance on the 2025 academic year.
Through the visit at West Coast College, she encouraged learners to take pleasure in getting artisan abilities as they provide excellent entrepreneurship opportunities.
"I am 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 issues about college student residences along with other amenities. The Deputy Minister directed the institution to work with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily take care of the determined challenges.
The Deputy Minister’s visit to the Western Cape, more info follows her recent visit to higher education institutions in the Free State where she visited Goldfields TVET get more info College and the Central University of Technology (CUT), at the Welkom campus.
Over the visits, the Deputy Minister continues to be accompanied by critical website 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 challenges confronted by the NSFAS was within the spotlight through the more info 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. Delays cause serious challenges for learners; learners need allowances to eat and to buy hygiene products. This is check here 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 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, with North West higher education institutions being the next on the list.
– SAnews.gov.za