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 alternate for advancing their professions.
The Deputy Minister was talking in the course of an oversight visit for the post-school education and education (PSET) institutions from the Western Cape this week.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as crucial for job creation and youth skills development from the country.
The Deputy Minister visited the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, and also the Cape Peninsula {University of Technological innovation (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits aimed at evaluating the point out of readiness of larger education institutions across the nation, in advance of the 2025 educational year.
During the visit at West Coast College, she encouraged learners to just take pleasure in attaining artisan skills as they offer good entrepreneurship opportunities.
"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 other tvet college courses without matric facilities. The Deputy Minister directed the establishment 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 get more info TVET College and the Central University of Technology (CUT), at the Welkom campus.
Over the visits, the Deputy Minister has long been accompanied by important 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 website visit.
The issue of funding check here and administrative problems faced from the NSFAS was within the spotlight through the Free State leg with 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 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 read more 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