STARTING a drive to get community colleges rebranded and become colleges of choice for out-of-school youth and adults, the Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, (pictured) along with SETAs and other stakeholders, visited Phakamile Community Learning Centre (CLC), a CET College, in Kariega in Eastern Cape.
According to the department, the 30 July event marked its first national Mandela Month outreach within the community college sector and achieved two key goals. Firstly, it supported Phakamile CLC with essential refurbishments, and secondly, it increased awareness of the vital role played by community colleges.
“I’ve visited several community colleges, and I’ve seen the challenges first-hand. I didn’t just read a report, I realised the vital role they play for that young girl who dropped out of school because she fell pregnant or anyone who never finished their matric and wants to acquire skills. Therefore, it was important for us to visit community colleges to raise their profile and inform members of the public that community colleges are a viable pathway to gaining skills and education,” said Gondwe.
The deputy minister collaborated with seven Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs), including the main partner, the Fibre Processing and Manufacturing (FP&M) SETA. Other SETAs that supported the event included the Services SETA, MerSETA, EW-SETA, HWSETA, SASSETA, and CATHSSETA.
Collectively, the SETAs contributed a R100,000 donation to establish an entrepreneurship hub, a commitment to upgrade the welding workshop, 40L of paint, a new ceiling installation, and sanitary towels, according to the department.
Additional support involved distributing approximately 200 hygiene packs donated by Old Mutual to learners and initiating a sustainable vegetable garden project with seedlings and garden tools donated by the Agricultural Research Council (ARC).
“All the entities supporting our outreach event are SETAs. During the event, commitments were even made to support the centre with an entrepreneurial hub and to ensure its ceilings and window panes are repaired, and the painting of the centre is completed,” Gondwe said.
