5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has encouraged learners to look at the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges as being a valuable and feasible choice for advancing their careers.
The Deputy Minister was speaking for the duration of an oversight visit into the post-school education and coaching (PSET) institutions from the Western Cape this 7 days.
Gondwe described the TVET colleges as critical for job creation and youth skills development inside the country.
The Deputy Minister frequented the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, as well as Cape Peninsula {University of Technologies (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits directed at evaluating the point out of readiness of higher education institutions across the country, ahead from the 2025 academic year.
Throughout the visit at West Coast College, she encouraged learners to consider satisfaction in obtaining artisan expertise as they offer excellent entrepreneurship options.
"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 said.
At the second part of more info the visit, students at CPUT expressed concerns about college student residences and various amenities. The Deputy Minister directed the establishment to work with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily resolve the discovered 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.
Over the visits, the Deputy Minister has actually been accompanied by essential 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 all higher education related queries on each visit.
The difficulty of funding and administrative troubles faced from the NSFAS was during the spotlight over the Free State here leg in the visits.
"NSFAS needs to get its act together, in order to ensure that student allowances are paid on time with no delays. more info Delays cause serious challenges for learners; learners need allowances to eat and to buy hygiene products. This is tvet colleges open 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 website 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