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The Department of Higher Education and Training has announced plans to send around 100 South African students to China next year to study skills that are deemed scarce and critical for the future.
This initiative, disclosed by Higher Education and Training Minister Dr Nobuhle Nkabane during a media briefing in Pretoria on Monday, is part of a broader strategy to address the skills mismatch within the country. The announcement follows the Minister’s recent trip to China as part of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s delegation to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit held in Beijing.
Minister Nkabane highlighted that South Africa and China have a long-standing cooperation in higher education, which is expanding to support the country’s goals in technological advancement and international educational collaboration.
“Our engagement during this visit aligns with South Africa’s strategic objectives concerning technological progress and global educational partnerships,” said Nkabane.
During the briefing, Nkabane, accompanied by the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) Administrator Freeman Nomvalo, provided insights into a four-day Ministerial Stakeholder Engagement Programme that concluded on Sunday. This programme involved extensive consultations with various stakeholders in the Post-School Education and Training (PSET) sector.
These consultations included meetings with student formations, universities, and Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges, where discussions centred around improving the PSET system and addressing inefficiencies within NSFAS.
Due to the feedback received, the launch of the 2025 NSFAS online application has been postponed. This delay will allow NSFAS to conduct a dry run of the application system and implement necessary improvements based on stakeholder input.
“The postponement of the 2025 NSFAS online application launch is a critical step to ensure that the system is fully prepared to meet the needs of students. I invite all matriculants, as well as learners from grades 9, 10, and 11 interested in the TVET sector, to apply for the NSFAS bursary or loan,” Minister Nkabane urged.
The 2025 NSFAS online application process is now set to commence on Friday, 20 September 2024, with detailed information to be provided by NSFAS.
Looking ahead, the department aims to significantly increase enrolments in the college system, targeting one million students in community colleges and 2.5 million in public and private TVET colleges by 2030. Additionally, the plan includes diversifying university enrolments to 1.6 million by 2030 based on institutional strengths and community needs.
The Minister concluded by emphasising the importance of these initiatives in shaping a skilled workforce ready to meet future challenges.