5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has encouraged learners to take into account the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges being a useful and practical substitute for advancing their professions.
The Deputy Minister was speaking during an oversight visit into the post-school education and education (PSET) establishments during the Western Cape this week.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as very important for job creation and youth skills development inside the region.
The Deputy Minister frequented the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, and the Cape Peninsula {University of Technology (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits geared toward examining the point out of readiness of greater education institutions across the country, in advance from the 2025 academic year.
In the visit at West Coast College, she encouraged learners to acquire satisfaction in attaining artisan competencies as they provide terrific entrepreneurship possibilities.
"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, students at CPUT expressed concerns about student residences and other amenities. The Deputy Minister directed the institution to operate with the website 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 more info 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 long 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 here formed part of the delegation, assisting with all higher education related queries on each visit.
The difficulty of funding and administrative issues confronted with the NSFAS was within the spotlight in the Free State leg of the visits.
"NSFAS needs to get its act together, in order to ensure that student allowances are website paid on time with no delays. Delays western tvet college 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 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