Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Mimmy Gondwe, has called on out-of-school youth and adults, especially those in rural and marginalised communities, to enrol at Community Education and Training (CET) colleges to improve literacy and education skills.

Gondwe made the call during the launch of the National Adult Literacy for Empowerment Campaign 2026-2030 at Lovedale TVET College in King William's Town in the Eastern Cape on Tuesday.

The campaign, themed "Empowering Communities through Literacy for Inclusive Development", is led by the Department of Higher Education and Training in partnership with the Mining Qualifications Authority, W&R SETA, Services SETA, Old Mutual, the National House of Traditional and Khoi-San Leaders, and other strategic partners.

The initiative aims to address the challenge of approximately 3.8 million functionally illiterate adults in South Africa by empowering one million adult learners by 2030.

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The programme will focus particularly on rural, mining and marginalised communities in the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo and North West provinces.

The campaign will implement a literacy programme that includes basic literacy and numeracy in local languages, digital literacy, financial literacy, civic education and life skills, entrepreneurship literacy, and workplace literacy.

Gondwe said CET colleges are central to the success of the national campaign against illiteracy.

"CET colleges have long been overlooked, despite their potential as centres for lifelong learning and skills development. Many face challenges and continue to operate under difficult conditions. I believe a whole-of-society approach is needed to support these important community learning institutions," said Gondwe.

The campaign is expected to reach nearly 8 000 learners across the four priority provinces during its 2026 pilot phase.