Learners urged to check out the education alternatives at TVET colleges
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 to be a useful and practical alternative for advancing their professions.
The Deputy Minister was speaking for the duration of an oversight visit to your post-school education and coaching (PSET) institutions while in the Western Cape this week.
Gondwe explained the TVET colleges as vital for job creation and youth skills development while in the region.
The Deputy Minister visited the West Coast College Vredenburg Campus, as well as Cape Peninsula {University of Engineering (CPUT) Bellville Campus in Cape Town.
Gondwe's visits targeted at assessing the point out of readiness of larger education institutions across the country, forward of the 2025 educational year.
During the visit at West Coast College, she encouraged learners to consider delight in attaining 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], and check here coding," Gondwe said.
At the second part of the visit, college students at CPUT expressed problems about student residences and other amenities. The Deputy Minister directed the institution to operate with the Student Representative Council (SRC), to speedily take click here care of the discovered 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 Technology (CUT), at the Welkom campus.
Throughout the visits, check here the Deputy Minister has become accompanied by crucial senior officers 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 challenges confronted from the NSFAS was during the spotlight through the Free State leg of your 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 website 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 check here next on the list.
– SAnews.gov.za