5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has inspired learners to look at the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges to be a beneficial and practical alternative for advancing their careers.
The Deputy Minister was talking during an oversight visit to the post-school education and teaching (PSET) institutions inside the Western Cape this 7 days.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as vital for job creation and youth skills development from the region.
The Deputy Minister frequented the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, along with the Cape Peninsula {University of Technologies (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits aimed toward evaluating the state of readiness of greater education institutions across the country, forward of your 2025 academic year.
Throughout the visit at West Coast College, she inspired learners to just take pleasure in buying artisan capabilities as they supply wonderful entrepreneurship alternatives.
"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 western tvet college at CPUT expressed worries about student residences and also other services. The Deputy Minister directed the institution to work with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily take care of the determined troubles.
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), at the Welkom campus.
In the course of the visits, the Deputy Minister has become accompanied by vital senior officials from Higher Education and Training, and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
The Deputy Minister’s dedicated Help Desk has click here also formed part of the delegation, assisting with all higher education related queries on each visit.
The difficulty of funding and administrative troubles faced through the NSFAS was within the spotlight during the Free State leg of your visits.
"NSFAS needs to get its act together, in order to ensure that student allowances are paid on time with no delays. here Delays cause serious challenges for learners; learners need allowances to eat and to buy hygiene products. This is important tvet colleges open 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 orbit tvet college 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