5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has inspired learners to evaluate the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges as being a important and viable alternative for advancing their careers.
The Deputy Minister was talking during an oversight visit on the post-school education and teaching (PSET) institutions within the Western Cape this 7 days.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as crucial for job creation and youth skills development during the region.
The Deputy Minister visited the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, plus the Cape Peninsula {University of Engineering (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits aimed at evaluating the state of readiness of better education institutions across the nation, in advance in the 2025 educational year.
In the visit at West Coast College, she encouraged learners to get pride in getting artisan skills as they offer wonderful entrepreneurship opportunities.
"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 more info said.
At the second part of the visit, students at CPUT expressed problems about college student residences and various amenities. The Deputy Minister directed the establishment to operate with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily take care of the determined challenges.
The Deputy Minister’s here 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.
During read more the visits, the Deputy Minister continues to be accompanied by important senior officers from Higher Education and orbit tvet college online application 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 worries faced via the NSFAS was while in the spotlight throughout the Free State leg of 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 website 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