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 important and feasible alternative for advancing their careers.
The Deputy Minister was talking through an oversight visit to your post-school education and education (PSET) establishments while in the Western Cape this week.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as essential for job creation and youth skills development from the nation.
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 targeted at evaluating the state of readiness of better education institutions across the country, forward of the 2025 academic year.
In the visit at West Coast College, she encouraged learners to choose pride in obtaining artisan abilities as they provide terrific entrepreneurship chances.
"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, get more info students at CPUT expressed issues about student residences as well as other services. The Deputy Minister directed the institution to operate with the Student letaba tvet college Representative Council (SRC), to speedily take care of the determined challenges.
The Deputy Minister’s visit to the Western Cape, follows her recent visit to higher education institutions website in the Free State where she visited Goldfields TVET College and the Central University of Technology (CUT), at the Welkom campus.
During the visits, the Deputy Minister is accompanied by crucial 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 difficulty of funding and administrative issues confronted via the NSFAS was during the spotlight over the Free State leg of your visits.
"NSFAS needs to get its act together, in order to ensure that here 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 check here continue in other provinces, with North West higher education institutions being the next on the list.
– SAnews.gov.za