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 as a worthwhile and practical option for advancing their occupations.
The Deputy Minister was speaking during an oversight visit towards the post-school education and teaching (PSET) establishments during the Western Cape this week.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as very important for job creation and youth skills development while in the place.
The Deputy Minister visited the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, along with the Cape Peninsula {University of Technologies (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits geared toward assessing the condition of readiness of larger education institutions across the country, in advance in the 2025 academic year.
Throughout the visit at West Coast College, she encouraged learners to take pleasure in buying artisan techniques as they offer good entrepreneurship options.
"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 as well as other facilities. The Deputy Minister directed the institution to operate with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily solve the determined challenges.
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), esayidi tvet college at the Welkom campus.
Throughout the visits, the Deputy Minister is accompanied by crucial senior officials from Higher Education and Training, and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
The tvet college courses Deputy Minister’s dedicated Help Desk has also formed part of the delegation, assisting with all higher education related queries on each visit.
The issue of funding and administrative problems confronted with the NSFAS was inside the spotlight in the Free State leg on the visits.
"NSFAS needs to get its act together, in click here 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 letaba tvet college sense of wellbeing and dignity," Gondwe said.
Gondwe read more 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