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 being a valuable and viable choice for advancing their careers.
The Deputy Minister was speaking all through an oversight visit for the post-school education and training (PSET) institutions while in the Western Cape this 7 days.
Gondwe explained the TVET colleges as crucial for job creation and youth skills development in 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 targeted at examining the point out of readiness of bigger education institutions across the nation, in advance of the 2025 academic year.
Throughout the visit at West Coast College, she encouraged learners to consider satisfaction in obtaining artisan expertise as they offer excellent entrepreneurship options.
"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 issues about student residences and other amenities. The Deputy Minister directed the establishment to work with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily resolve 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 check here TVET College and the Central University of Technology (CUT), at the Welkom campus.
In the visits, the Deputy Minister has long been accompanied by important senior officers more info from Higher Education and Training, and the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS).
The Deputy Minister’s dedicated Help more info Desk has also formed part of the delegation, assisting with all higher education related queries on each visit.
The difficulty of funding and administrative issues faced by the NSFAS was during the spotlight in the course of the Free State leg in 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 check here 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 tvet college courses institutions being the next on the list.
– SAnews.gov.za