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 being a beneficial and feasible alternative for advancing their professions.
The Deputy Minister was talking all through an oversight visit for the post-school education and coaching (PSET) establishments from the Western Cape this 7 days.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as critical for job creation and youth skills development during the country.
The Deputy Minister visited the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, plus the Cape Peninsula {University of Know-how (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits directed at examining the state of readiness of higher education institutions across the nation, in advance in the 2025 academic year.
In the visit at West Coast College, she inspired learners to just take delight in obtaining artisan expertise as they provide wonderful entrepreneurship possibilities.
"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 issues about get more info college student residences and also other facilities. The Deputy Minister directed the establishment to operate with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily solve the recognized problems.
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 course of the visits, the Deputy Minister continues to be accompanied by critical senior officials from Higher Education and Training, and here the tvet colleges open for late applications 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 issue of funding and administrative challenges confronted with the NSFAS was inside the spotlight during the Free State leg of your visits.
"NSFAS needs to get its act together, in order to ensure that student allowances are paid on time with no click here delays. Delays cause serious challenges for learners; learners need allowances to eat and to buy hygiene products. here 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