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 as being a useful and viable alternative for advancing their professions.
The Deputy Minister was talking all through an oversight visit to your post-school education and teaching (PSET) institutions within the Western Cape this 7 days.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as vital for job creation and youth skills development during the nation.
The Deputy Minister frequented the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, as well as the Cape Peninsula {University of Technologies (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits directed at assessing the condition of readiness of greater education institutions across the nation, in advance in the 2025 educational year.
During the visit at West Coast College, she encouraged learners to just take delight in acquiring artisan expertise as they provide terrific 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, college students at CPUT more info expressed concerns about student residences along with other services. The Deputy Minister directed the institution to work with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily resolve the identified problems.
The Deputy Minister’s visit to the get more info 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.
Through the visits, the Deputy Minister has become accompanied by essential 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 with the NSFAS was inside the spotlight through read more the Free State leg from 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 sedibeng tvet college 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 here 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