5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has encouraged learners to take into account the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges as a beneficial and viable different for advancing their occupations.
The Deputy Minister was talking in the course of an oversight visit for the post-school education and education (PSET) institutions while in the Western Cape this 7 days.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as vital for job creation and youth skills development while in the region.
The Deputy Minister visited the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, as well as Cape Peninsula {University of Technological innovation (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits targeted at evaluating the state of readiness of bigger education institutions across the nation, ahead of the 2025 educational year.
Through the visit at West Coast College, she encouraged learners to acquire satisfaction in acquiring artisan expertise as they supply wonderful 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 worries about website college student residences along with other here amenities. The Deputy Minister directed the institution to operate with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily solve the recognized issues.
The Deputy Minister’s visit to the Western Cape, follows more info 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 been accompanied by crucial senior officers from Higher Education and Training, and the National Student Financial sedibeng tvet college 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 worries confronted from the NSFAS orbit tvet college online application was within the spotlight in the course of the Free State leg with 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 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