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 useful and viable option for advancing their professions.
The Deputy Minister was talking throughout an oversight visit into the post-school education and teaching (PSET) institutions during the Western Cape this week.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as essential for job creation and youth skills development in the place.
The Deputy Minister visited the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, and the Cape Peninsula {University of Technological innovation (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits aimed at evaluating the state of readiness of bigger education institutions across the country, in advance in the 2025 educational year.
In the course of the visit at West Coast College, she inspired learners to just take pleasure in getting artisan skills as they provide terrific 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 lephalale tvet college second part of the visit, college students at CPUT expressed considerations about student residences and other facilities. The Deputy Minister directed the institution to work with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily resolve the recognized difficulties.
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.
During the visits, the Deputy Minister is accompanied by key senior officials from read more 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 difficulties confronted from the NSFAS was during the spotlight over the Free State leg from 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 orbit tvet college online application 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 check here for the 2025 academic year.
The Deputy here 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