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 as a important and practical choice for advancing their professions.
The Deputy Minister was speaking for the duration of an oversight visit to the post-school education and teaching (PSET) establishments within the Western Cape this week.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as important for job creation and youth skills development in the region.
The Deputy Minister visited the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, as well as the Cape Peninsula {University of Engineering (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits aimed toward evaluating the point out of readiness of better education institutions across the nation, in advance of your 2025 educational year.
During the visit at West Coast College, she encouraged learners to consider satisfaction in obtaining artisan expertise as they offer excellent entrepreneurship options.
"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, students at CPUT expressed issues about student residences together with other services. The Deputy Minister directed the institution to work with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily take care of get more info the determined 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 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 difficulty of funding and administrative troubles confronted by the NSFAS was in the spotlight over the Free State leg of the visits.
"NSFAS needs to get its act together, in order to ensure that student tvet colleges open 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 click here 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 here next on website the list.
– SAnews.gov.za