5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has inspired learners to consider the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges to be a beneficial and viable alternative for advancing their professions.
The Deputy Minister was talking during an oversight visit into the post-school education and schooling (PSET) institutions in the Western Cape this 7 days.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as very important for job creation and youth skills development from the country.
The Deputy Minister visited the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, as well as Cape Peninsula {University of Engineering (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits aimed toward assessing the point out of readiness of higher education institutions across the country, ahead of the 2025 educational year.
Throughout the visit at West Coast College, she inspired learners to get pride in getting artisan skills as they provide wonderful entrepreneurship chances.
"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 here said.
At the second part of the visit, college students at CPUT expressed problems about college student residences as well as other amenities. The Deputy Minister directed the institution to work with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily take care of the recognized issues.
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 is accompanied by vital senior officials from Higher Education get more info 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 click here all higher education related queries on each visit.
The issue of funding and administrative issues confronted read more by the NSFAS was inside the spotlight over 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 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 click here 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