Cape Town - Mitchells Plain will soon be home to Cape Town’s latest tertiary institution following the sale of land by the City of Cape Town to the False Bay College, mayor Dan Plato said on Saturday.
"The college, which will have the capacity to cater to approximately 10,000 students, will address a great need for the education and training of youth in the Mitchells Plain and Strandfontein areas and surrounds. It will serve as the first large-scale tertiary institution for the area," he said in a statement
Research in 2005 by the city at the request of False Bay College revealed the need for a tertiary education facility in the Mitchells Plain and Strandfontein areas. The city had long supported the idea of granting False Bay College a piece of land to build a comprehensive tertiary facility to cater for the greater Mitchells Plain community and surrounds.
"We are pleased that following a funding commitment from the national government the building of this facility for higher learning can now get under way," Plato said.
The facility would offer tuition in the key sectors of tourism, film, information technology, call centre training, retail programmes, business studies, paralegal qualifications, and the creative media. It would also have a cosmetology academy, and the college would offer bridging programmes for youth who did not meet the minimum requirements for entry into technical and vocational education and training colleges (TVET).
The establishment of a campus that served the communities of Mitchells Plain and surrounding communities represented a significant opportunity to promote access to education for young people in vulnerable communities on the Cape Flats. The city was encouraged that with the allocation of R380 million by the national higher education and training department the project could now progress to the construction phase, Plato said.
The proposed new facility in Mitchells Plain. Picture: CoCT
Part of the funding would go towards purchasing the 6.5 hectare piece of land, which the city made available at a nominal amount. This would enable the bulk of the allocated funding to go towards the construction of the institution.
False Bay College had campuses in Muizenberg, Fish Hoek, and Westlake, and served some of the most marginalised communities in Cape Town. The proposed new larger campus would help to address this problem by eventually being able to cater for about 10 000 students. The construction of the new campus was a welcome display of collaborative governance, as it saw the local, provincial, and national governments working together for the empowerment of residents, especially the youth.
"We believe that quality and responsive education and training is the most effective way of empowering people and preparing them for work. I look forward to seeing the doors of this world-class education facility open in the near future," Plato said.