Eshowe Campus participates in WSSA

Eshowe Campus Hospitality students put uMfolozi on the map when they participated in the Provincial Cooking and Restaurant Services WorldSkills (WSSA) Competition at Majuba TVET College on Monday, 22 October 2018.

Nokulunga Khumalo took 5^th place in the competition while Celimpilo Ndlela came 9^th. “This is the first time the College participated in the competition and the students had little time to prepare. We congratulate them for their effort. We hope to do better next year,” said Leon Snyman, WSSA Provincial Expert.

Vital Skills Centre opened at Esikhawini Campus

Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training Buti Manamela officially opened a skills development centre at Esikhawini Campus on 2 November 2018.

The training facility has the capacity of hosting 90 apprentices in plumbing carpentry and bricklaying. It aims to improve existing partnerships with industries to ensure greater practice orientation of training programmes. Manamela said this uMfolozi Skills Development Centre in partnership with Construction Education and Training Authority (CETA) and Kreishandwerkerschaft is part of a journey towards making Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges institutions of choice. “Our National Skills Development Strategy underscores the need for 21 sector education and training authorities to work more closely with the 50 public TVET Colleges. The strategy encourages great investment by SETAs towards expanding the occupation and skills programme offerings offered by TVET Colleges. It calls upon the SETAs to align more closely with TVET Colleges by bringing an industry voice and perspective to the work being done at TVET Colleges,” Manamela said.

The Deputy Minister said SETAs and TVET Colleges are critical institutions with important roles to play in the National Development Plan. He also applauded the partnership with Kreishandwerkerschaft. The partnership includes the planning and implementation of revising curricula, selecting applicants and providing practical work experience. “The lecturers have also received training in Germany on the Dual Apprenticeship System. This is in line with the Department’s commitment to reduce the inconsistency that currently exists between the standard of training and the labour market requirements. The improvements will allow for the employability of graduates and the competitiveness of the enterprises, concluded Manamela.