5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has encouraged learners to evaluate the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges to be a valuable and practical alternate for advancing their occupations.
The Deputy Minister was speaking through an oversight visit to the post-school education and coaching (PSET) establishments from the Western Cape this week.
Gondwe explained the TVET colleges as critical for job creation and youth skills development within the place.
The Deputy Minister visited the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, as well as Cape Peninsula {University of Technology (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits targeted at examining the point out of readiness of greater education institutions across the nation, forward with the 2025 academic year.
In the course of the visit at West Coast College, she inspired learners to take satisfaction in buying artisan abilities as they provide good 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], read more and coding," Gondwe said.
At the second part of the visit, college students at CPUT expressed fears about college student residences as well as other facilities. The Deputy Minister directed the institution to work with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily take care of the discovered issues.
The Deputy check here 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 website (CUT), at the Welkom campus.
In the visits, the Deputy Minister continues here to be accompanied by important 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 check here all higher education related queries on each visit.
The issue of funding and administrative challenges confronted with the NSFAS was from the spotlight during 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 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 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