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 as a valuable and viable alternate for advancing their occupations.
The Deputy Minister was speaking in the course of an oversight visit for the post-school education and teaching (PSET) institutions from the Western Cape this week.
Gondwe explained the TVET colleges as critical for job creation and youth skills development during the country.
The Deputy Minister frequented the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, and the Cape Peninsula {University of Technological innovation (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits geared toward examining the condition of readiness of bigger education institutions across the country, forward of the 2025 educational year.
Over the visit at West Coast College, she inspired learners to just take delight in acquiring artisan expertise as they offer excellent entrepreneurship alternatives.
"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, students at CPUT expressed concerns about student residences together with other amenities. The Deputy Minister directed the establishment to operate with the Student Representative Council click here (SRC), to speedily solve the recognized difficulties.
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.
Over the visits, the Deputy Minister has long been accompanied by key 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 faced from the NSFAS was during the spotlight during the Free State leg website with read more 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 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 check here the 2025 academic year.
The Deputy Minister's oversight is more info expected to continue in other provinces, with North West higher education institutions being the next on the list.
– SAnews.gov.za