5th February 2025
Higher Education and Training Deputy Minister, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has inspired learners to take into account the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges for a beneficial and practical choice for advancing their careers.

The Deputy Minister was speaking for the duration of an oversight visit towards the post-school education and coaching (PSET) institutions in the Western Cape this 7 days.

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

The Deputy Minister frequented the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, along with the Cape Peninsula {University of Engineering (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.

Gondwe's visits geared toward assessing the state of readiness of higher education institutions across the nation, in advance with the 2025 educational year.

Over the visit at West Coast College, she encouraged learners to acquire delight in getting artisan abilities as they supply excellent entrepreneurship opportunities.

"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 get more info worries about college student residences along with other services. The Deputy Minister directed the establishment to work with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily resolve the determined challenges.

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 website Technology (CUT), at the Welkom campus.

Throughout the visits, the Deputy Minister is 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 tvet colleges open all higher education related queries on each visit.

The issue of funding and administrative challenges faced from the NSFAS was inside the spotlight throughout the Free State leg from the visits.

"NSFAS needs to get its act together, in order to ensure that student click here 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 thekwini tvet college being the next on the list.
– SAnews.gov.za