5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has inspired learners to look at the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges as being a precious and feasible alternate for advancing their careers.
The Deputy Minister was talking through an oversight visit on the post-school education and teaching (PSET) establishments in the Western Cape this 7 days.
Gondwe explained the TVET colleges as important for job creation and youth skills development within the place.
The Deputy Minister visited the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, along with the Cape Peninsula {University of Technological innovation (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits aimed at evaluating the point out of readiness of better 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 choose pleasure in acquiring artisan skills as they offer great 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 fears about college student residences together with other services. The Deputy Minister directed the institution to operate with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily resolve the identified challenges.
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.
In the visits, the Deputy Minister has actually been accompanied by critical 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 each visit.
The check here issue of funding and administrative worries confronted from the NSFAS was in the spotlight over the tvet colleges open Free State leg on 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 here and Training, Dr Nobuhle Nkabane at the special meeting of the Post Education and Training sector held in check here 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 capricorn tvet college West higher education institutions being the next on the list.
– SAnews.gov.za