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 useful and feasible alternate for advancing their occupations.
The Deputy Minister was talking during an oversight visit to the post-school education and instruction (PSET) institutions while in the Western Cape this week.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as critical for job creation and youth skills development inside the place.
The Deputy Minister visited the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, plus the Cape Peninsula {University of Technological innovation (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits geared toward examining the condition of readiness of better education institutions across the nation, forward from the 2025 educational year.
In the course of the visit at West Coast College, she encouraged learners to just take satisfaction in getting artisan competencies as they provide good entrepreneurship chances.
"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 problems about college student residences as well as other facilities. The Deputy Minister directed the establishment to operate with the Student Representative tvet college courses Council (SRC), to speedily resolve the determined concerns.
The Deputy Minister’s visit to the Western Cape, follows her recent visit to higher education institutions in the Free State where she here visited Goldfields TVET College and click here the Central University of Technology (CUT), at the Welkom campus.
In the course of the visits, the Deputy Minister is accompanied by important 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 troubles confronted because of the NSFAS was during the spotlight throughout the Free lephalale tvet college State leg in 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 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 website list.
– SAnews.gov.za