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 being a valuable and viable substitute for advancing their careers.
The Deputy Minister was speaking during an oversight visit towards the post-school education and schooling (PSET) establishments in the Western Cape this week.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as essential for job creation and youth skills development inside the country.
The Deputy Minister frequented the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, plus the Cape Peninsula {University of Engineering (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits geared toward evaluating the state of readiness of larger education institutions across the country, in advance of your 2025 educational year.
In the visit at West Coast College, she inspired learners to get delight in obtaining artisan expertise as they supply good 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 at CPUT more info expressed problems about student residences as well as other amenities. The Deputy Minister directed the establishment to work with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily take care of the recognized issues.
The Deputy Minister’s capricorn tvet college 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.
During the visits, the Deputy Minister has long been 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 problem of funding and administrative issues confronted by the NSFAS was while in the spotlight during the Free State leg on the visits.
"NSFAS needs to get its act together, in order to ensure that student allowances here are paid on time with no delays. Delays cause serious challenges for learners; learners need allowances to eat tvet colleges open for applications and to buy hygiene products. This is important check here 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 list.
– SAnews.gov.za