Johannesburg – The Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training, Mduduzi Manana, has encouraged learners from Diepsloot West Secondary School to take up careers in the scarce and critical skills fields, which will make a positive contribution to the South African economy.
Manana, who visited the school as part of the national Imbizo Focus Week, encouraged learners to take up study programmes in the maritime, mining, rail and aviation arenas.
Speaking to SAnews, Manana was of the view that the under-representation of pupils from rural and township schools in these sectors in the post-school system was due to a lack of information.
“Our black children are not exposed to these things. If we do not develop these young people, we would miss a big opportunity to deal with the issue of unemployment in the country … It’s not that there is no willingness,” said Manana.
Manana said money was available through bursaries to help learners pursue programmes in these scarce skills sectors.
“It is not a matter of them not wanting to - but rather they do not have information. The young people of today are much more adventurous and want to explore.”
Manana said the Imbizo Focus week was a means to help bring this information to learners.
“We are … educating them about the available funding, especially in communities such as Diepsloot, where parents cannot afford to send them to academies to study maritime, for example.”
Manana said the department has mobilised role players from the critical skills sectors to help attract more young people to the professions that contribute to the achievement of government’s social and economic goals.
An example of this was the partnership with the South African Maritime Safety Authority. SAMSA has sent 20 South Africans to study Master’s Degree courses as well as two to study their Doctorates in Maritime Affairs at the World Maritime University in Sweden. The move, Manana said, would ensure the students came back to SA as leaders in the maritime sector.
Keeping students in the system
According to Manana, informing learners about the programmes needed by the economy in high school was one way of addressing the high dropout rate in the first-year of tertiary.
A recent study by the Human Sciences Research Council shows that up to 40% of SA students drop out in their first year at university, while only 15% finish their degrees in the specified time. Black students make up the biggest percentage of dropouts.
“By visiting the school, we are trying to avert this and help learners make better choices,” said Manana, who attributed the dropout rate to poor career choice, poor matric results and a lack of guidance or no guidance at all.
Although there are calls for learners to enter post-matric institutions, the number of applicants received by the country’s universities usually exceeds the number of available spaces.
Manana said the two new universities - Sol Plaatje University in the Northern Cape and University of Mpumalanga - were an attempt by government to increase the number of university students.
“The two new universities will be the first to be built in post-apartheid South Africa, and it is a major intervention and achievement for government,” he said, adding that they will go a long way to address the apartheid legacy in the country’s higher education system.
The institutions will gradually admit students for the 2015 academic year. Sol Plaatje University will accommodate about 135 students, while the University of Mpumalanga will take about 140.
Bridging the skills gap
Manana said there was still the option of Further Education and Training (FET) colleges, which the department was rejuvenating by injecting funds and human resources development initiatives.
“FETs should not be reserved as last resorts or weak institutions. In fact, they must be viable institutions for learners because the kind of programmes offered there are those most needed by the economy of the country.”
Government views the production of artisans and other mid-level skills offered at FETs as a priority. It is investing billions into the development of the colleges to turn them into institutions of choice. This will deal with the need of importing skills from other countries to deliver on the Strategic Infrastructure Projects (SIPs.)
South Africa needs to increase the number of qualified and competent artisans to enable the country to successfully deliver on its SIPs, which will see the building of new and the upgrading of existing infrastructure.
The country needs to train 30 000 artisans per year by 2014. However, currently it only produces 14 000 artisans per year.
“For example, for Medupi and Kusile Power Stations, we had to import coded welders into the country, which is very unfortunate, taking into account that we are sitting with young people who are idling on our streets,” said Manana.
Manana said his department wants to change this.
“We want to skill our youth, especially now that the country is embarking on the massive infrastructure programmes that were announced by the President, (for) which we will need more artisans.”
It was for this reason that government was investing in FETs, so that they can be seen to be just as viable and credible as other higher learning institutions.
Expanding the FET sector
Manana said government was expanding the FET sector and was building 12 new campuses in the country. Construction was at an advanced stage, the deputy minister said.
He said most were being built in the rural and vulnerable areas because skills were needed there the most.
The 12 new FET campuses will be located in Msinga, Umkhanyakude, Nkandla, Sisonke and Muden in KwaZulu-Natal; Balfour in Mpumalanga; Thabazimbi and Giyani in Limpopo; and Aliwal North, Graaff-Reinet, Sterkspruit and Lusikisiki in the Eastern Cape.
“Our aim is to have each and every town or municipality have a college campus. We are starting with this 12, but we will be taking the process forward.”
The refurbishment and construction of new FET campuses will be funded by an initial R1.5 billion from the National Skills Fund and R1 billion from the Sector Education and Training Authority over the course of the next three years.
State funding for FET colleges in the five years between 2009 and 2014 is set to progressively increase from R3.1 billion to R5.2 billion. - SAnews.gov.za
