5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has inspired learners to think about the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges to be a useful and feasible substitute for advancing their occupations.
The Deputy Minister was speaking for the duration of an oversight visit into the post-school education and schooling (PSET) establishments from the Western Cape this week.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as crucial for job creation and youth skills development from the region.
The Deputy Minister visited 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 evaluating the state of readiness of better education institutions across the country, ahead with the 2025 educational year.
In the course of the visit at West Coast College, she inspired learners to get satisfaction in buying artisan abilities as they provide good 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 considerations about college student residences as well as other services. The Deputy Minister directed the establishment to work with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily resolve 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 more info she visited Goldfields TVET College and the Central University of Technology (CUT), at the Welkom campus.
Through elangeni tvet college the visits, the Deputy Minister has become accompanied by key senior officers from Higher Education click here 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 through the NSFAS was in the spotlight over the Free State leg on the visits.
"NSFAS needs to get its act together, in order to ensure website that student website 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