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 being a useful and feasible choice for advancing their professions.

The Deputy Minister was speaking in the course of an oversight visit for the post-school education and teaching (PSET) institutions inside the Western Cape this week.

Gondwe explained the TVET colleges as very important for job creation and youth skills development within the country.

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

Gondwe's visits targeted at assessing the state of readiness of increased education institutions across the nation, ahead from the 2025 academic year.

In the visit at West Coast College, she inspired learners to get pride in attaining artisan competencies as they provide fantastic 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, students at CPUT expressed problems about student residences and other services. The Deputy Minister directed the establishment to work with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily solve the discovered troubles.

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 tvet college courses Central University of Technology (CUT), at the Welkom campus.

During the visits, the Deputy Minister click here has become accompanied by key 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 problem of funding and administrative worries confronted because of the NSFAS was within the spotlight during the Free State leg in the visits.

"NSFAS needs to get its act website 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 read more 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 click here North West higher education institutions being the next on the list.
– SAnews.gov.za