5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has encouraged learners to take into account the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges as a worthwhile and practical option for advancing their occupations.

The Deputy Minister was talking for the duration of an oversight visit into the post-school education and schooling (PSET) establishments during the Western Cape this week.

Gondwe described the TVET colleges as critical for job creation and youth skills development from the country.

The Deputy Minister visited the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, as well as the Cape Peninsula {University of Technology (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.

Gondwe's visits geared toward evaluating the condition of readiness of increased education institutions across the nation, forward with the 2025 academic year.

In the course of the visit at West Coast College, she encouraged learners to just take delight in buying artisan techniques as they provide fantastic entrepreneurship chances.

"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 considerations about college student residences and various amenities. The Deputy Minister directed the institution to work with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily solve the identified difficulties.

The get more info 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.

Throughout the visits, the Deputy Minister is accompanied by important senior officers from Higher Education and Training, lephalale tvet college 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 click here administrative issues faced by the NSFAS was during the spotlight over the Free State leg in the get more info 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 check here 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