5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has inspired learners to consider the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges as being a valuable and feasible choice for advancing their professions.
The Deputy Minister was talking during an oversight visit into the post-school education and schooling (PSET) establishments while in the Western Cape this week.
Gondwe explained the TVET colleges as very important for job creation and youth skills development inside the nation.
The Deputy Minister frequented the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, and the Cape Peninsula {University of Technological innovation (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits directed at evaluating the condition of readiness of higher education institutions across the nation, forward in the 2025 academic year.
Over the visit at West Coast College, she inspired learners to acquire pleasure in acquiring artisan techniques as they supply terrific 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 considerations about student residences together with other amenities. The Deputy Minister directed the institution to work with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily resolve the determined concerns.
The Deputy Minister’s visit to the Western Cape, read more follows her recent visit read more 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 Deputy Minister has been accompanied by critical 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 lephalale tvet college related queries on each visit.
The difficulty of funding and administrative problems confronted via the NSFAS was while in the spotlight in the course of the Free State leg on the visits.
"NSFAS needs to get its act together, in order to ensure that student allowances website 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 get more info 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