5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has encouraged learners to look at the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges to be a valuable and feasible option for advancing their professions.
The Deputy Minister was speaking in the course of an oversight visit towards the post-school education and training (PSET) institutions during the Western Cape this week.
Gondwe explained the TVET colleges as crucial for job creation and youth skills development while in the state.
The Deputy Minister visited the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, along with the Cape Peninsula {University of Technological innovation (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits directed at assessing the state of readiness of increased education institutions across the nation, in advance of your 2025 academic year.
Throughout the visit at West Coast College, she encouraged learners to get satisfaction in getting artisan capabilities as they provide good 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, college students at CPUT expressed worries get more info about student residences along with other facilities. The Deputy Minister read more directed the establishment to operate with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily solve the identified issues.
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 visits, the Deputy Minister has actually been accompanied by essential senior officials 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 read more all higher education related queries on each visit.
The difficulty of funding and administrative challenges confronted from the NSFAS was in the spotlight in the course of the Free State leg from the visits.
"NSFAS needs to get more info 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 more info 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