5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has inspired learners to consider the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges to be a beneficial and practical choice for advancing their professions.
The Deputy Minister was speaking throughout an oversight visit on the post-school education and instruction (PSET) establishments within the Western Cape this week.
Gondwe explained the TVET colleges as very important for job creation and youth skills development within the nation.
The Deputy Minister frequented the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, and also the Cape Peninsula {University of Technology (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits aimed toward examining the point out of readiness of higher education institutions across the country, ahead in the 2025 academic year.
In the course of the visit at West Coast College, she inspired learners to take pride in buying artisan skills as they offer great 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, college students at CPUT expressed fears about college student residences and various services. The Deputy here Minister directed the institution to work with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily take care of the discovered difficulties.
The Deputy Minister’s visit to the Western Cape, website 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.
In the course of the visits, the Deputy Minister has become accompanied by crucial 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 more info each visit.
The difficulty of funding and administrative issues faced by the NSFAS was during the spotlight over the check here Free State leg in the visits.
"NSFAS needs to get its act together, in order to ensure that letaba tvet college 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 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