Centre for welding launched at Boland

BOLAND Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) College, Worcester campus, has been given a boost with the launch of the Centre for Specialisation Welding.

Higher Education Deputy Minister Buti Manamela and Boland TVET College principal Johanna Coetzee officially opened the centre on Thursday.

This brings to seven the number of TVET colleges in the Western Cape that specialise in eight of the 13 trades identified by government for development.

Manamela said the programme approach aimed to address the demand for priority trades.

“In the State of the Nation address President Cyril Ramaphosa spoke about immediate interventions that we are making to improve the quality and relevance of our educational outcomes.”

The centres were important for a number of reasons, he said, among them to train artisans for trades that are in demand; to place colleges in a better partnership with employers, to build a better apprenticeship system and lay the foundation for college differentiation.

“The centres are addressing the priority trades needed to implement the National Development Plan in general and Infrastructure Plan in particular while delivering occupational qualifications with employers as partners,” he said.

Last year former minister Naledi Pandor opened the centre for mechanical fitters and riggers at the False Bay TVET College in Khayelitsha. |