Profile

Motheo TVET College is one of the four public TVET Colleges in the Free State, serving the Motheo and Xhariep Districts. Prof Dipiloane Phutsisi is the Principal of the College and President of the South African Public Colleges Organization (SACPO). When she took over as Principal in 2013, she had a clear vision for the institution, to train a skilled and capable workforce. Under her leadership, the institution preserved its past and is busy building the future. The College is comprised of a Central Office and nine campuses namely: Bloemfontein, Hillside View, Thaba Nchu, Centre for Entrepreneurship and Rapid Incubator (CfE and RI), National Artisan Development Academy, Plot 32, Botshabelo, Koffiefontein and Zastron Campuses.

Bloemfontein Campus focuses mainly on the training of Business Studies NC(V) and Report 191 programmes. Training of disabled students (deaf, blind and physically impaired) are catered for at this Campus. The Campus is also well geared for the presentation of programmes in Tourism and Hospitality Services, Management Sciences. The growth in the Hospitality Services Department has been considerable and as a result the College has a Restaurant called The Gateway Restaurant. The College took the decision to commercialize the restaurant and it will soon open for the public to enjoy sumptuous meals.

Hillside View Campus is situated in Bloemanda township which is 8 km from the Central Office. The Campus is more inclined towards Engineering Studies programmes both NC(V) and Report 191. The Campus also boasts sophisticated Engineering Workshop facilities accredited by the MERSETA, including an Automotive Spray-Painting Unit and offers a selection of programmes in engineering including Automotive Mechanics, Body Repair, Electrical Engineering and Cabinet Making. Next year, this Campus will also introduce Robotics Programme: IT and Computer Science Level 2 to 4, Software Design and Development and Programming Robotics. The Campus also plans to establish an Aviation workshop in partnership with Kopano Flying School for introduction of Aircraft Mechanics.

Despite its rural setting, Thaba Nchu Campus offered programmes in Construction Sciences, Engineering Studies and Clothing Production. As part of living the College’s vision, the College plans to establish a Maritime Academy. The building thereof will be in the shape of a Jumbo ship and placed at the same Campus. The facility will have classrooms, a parking area, state of the art facilities and resources and to be equipped with a diving pool for training purposes. Recently the College held a Sword Turning Ceremony for a diving pool. The College introduced Maritime Studies Related Programmes in the 2020 academic year. Southern Seas Institute (SSI) is contracted to Project Manage Maritime Academy for the College. SSI also donated a boat to assist students with their Boat Building practical’s and skippers license training.

Prof Phutsisi’s passion for helping the next generation of skilled workers is evident as she continues to talk about the College’s Centre for Entrepreneurship and Rapid Incubator (CfE and RI), which is situated at 46 St Georges Street, Bloemfontein. “We partnered with the Small Business Development and the Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) to offer training and funding for community members and students who are interested in becoming business owners.” The Centre provides the opportunity to qualified students of the College, unemployed youth graduates and women between the ages of 18 – 35, aspiring business owners, NGO’s aiming to become entrepreneurs, to set up their own businesses and start contributing to the economy of South Africa, thus to be their own job creators and not job seekers. The focus is currently on welding, jewelry making, graphic design, fashion design and construction.

The College has a farm with livestock such as layers, broilers, piggery and a greenhouse where students learn about animal and plant production. Plans for an abattoir for the study of meat production is also underway. “We introduced full qualifications in agriculture, including smart agriculture that addresses the green economy and information communication technology (ICT) that teaches students how to use technology on the farm to increase productivity while preserving water,” said Prof Phutsisi. As the College promotes self-sufficiency, the Plot is also commercialized, and vegetables and chicken are sold to staff members. 

The College attained 3rd position out of 50 TVET Colleges nationwide in NATED Engineering studies, with a retention rate of 74,4% and a pass rate of 70,7%, retention rate of 67,4% and a pass rate of 82,5% in NC(V). The College introduced an On-Line Learning Management System (Student Hub and Moodle). The College is counted amongst trailblazers in the TVET sector to harness On-Line Teaching and Learning. Linking to the Vision of Motheo TVET College “The Gateway to Employability” and the Mission to “Be a visionary and innovative provider of excellence, responsive to the needs of the community” the programme qualification offerings mix of the College is therefore addressing the economic needs of its service area and the intention is to be of more service to the industry, have closer links and producing the so much needed qualified artisans and a skilled workforce. 

The College has fostered partnerships with a spectrum of industries, government institutions and local and international partners who assist with skills development and where accreditation is not yet in place. The Free State Provincial Government led by the Former Premier Ms Sefora Ntombela accompanied by all MEC’s and HOD’s recently visited Motheo TVET College to strengthen the consensus on new areas of collaboration. The College is collaborating with the Free State Provincial Government with the intention of working hand in glove to build a long lasting strategic partnership that will respond to prevailing socio-economic challenges that continue to plague our communities, particularly the youth, foster development, innovation and also leverage on a pool of available skills offered by the College.

Other partnerships include SA-Navy for Work Integrated Learning for students and industry placement for lecturers. Maastricht School of Management & Stellenbosch University Project for strengthening skills of TVET staff and students for optimizing water usage and Climate Smart Agriculture in South Africa. International partnerships include Coleg Gwent (UK), West-Lothian College in Scotland, Warwickshire College Group in Lamington Spa (UK) and Northlink TVET College in Cape Town. Memoranda of Agreement are entered between University of Free State: Development Institutional Advancement for Technology enhancement, research and personnel training and development. Recently the College signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Kreishandwerkers (KH) chaft of Germany. The purpose of the six-years partnership is to support the College towards the enhancement of demand-oriented training with a focus on the artisan trades to provide graduates with improved employment and self-employment prospects.

The College operates closely with SETAs such as SERVICES SETA, MERSETA, CHIETA, CETA, LGSETA, W&RSETA amongst others. The College recently entered into a signed agreement with the MICT SETA to train and place college students to be technicians to build capacity and establish computer labs. Despite COVID-19 pandemic, the College remains resolute to offer value adding support, teaching and learning service. Currently the College has been selected as a Centre of Excellence, it is an ICT Academy for two market leaders in the ICT Sector, namely Cisco and Huawei. Being an academy falling under these two companies allows the College to run certified courses that will enable registrants to be equipped with skills such as CCNA, IT Essentials, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Cloud Computing, Python Programming and 4G/5G.

The College aims to be an entity responsible for initiating and implement economic development projects within the Ocean Economy in the Free State. The College further aims at addressing skills shortage, this is in line with the continuation of the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Dr Blade Nzimande’s mandate of expanding on our training programmes.

Under Prof Phutsisi’s stewardship, Motheo TVET College won numerous National and International awards. The College is an official member of the European Business Academy in Oxford in the UK in 2017. The College won PMR Africa Golden Arrow Award in 2014 and Diamond Arrow Award (Highest rated) from 2015 to 2022. The College received an International Quality Award for excellence in education by European Business Academy in Lucerne, Switzerland in July 2017. The College also received ISO 9001:2015 accreditation through the British Standard Institute.