5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has encouraged learners to consider the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges as being a valuable and feasible alternative for advancing their occupations.
The Deputy Minister was talking all through an oversight visit on the post-school education and coaching (PSET) establishments in the Western Cape this week.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as essential for job creation and youth skills development inside the place.
The Deputy Minister frequented the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, and the Cape Peninsula {University of Engineering (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits directed at assessing the condition of readiness of larger education institutions across the country, in advance in the 2025 academic year.
In the course of the visit at West Coast College, she encouraged learners to get satisfaction in getting artisan capabilities as they supply terrific entrepreneurship opportunities.
"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 issues about student residences and various facilities. The Deputy Minister directed the establishment to work with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily take care of the determined concerns.
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.
Throughout the visits, check here the Deputy Minister has been 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 also formed part of the delegation, assisting with all higher education related queries on each visit.
The difficulty of funding and administrative troubles faced via the NSFAS was while in the spotlight over the Free State leg with the visits.
"NSFAS elangeni tvet college 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 get more info 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 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 check here other provinces, with North West tvet college courses without matric higher education institutions being the next on the list.
– SAnews.gov.za