Johannesburg - Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande says the success of the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) college sector lies largely in the partnerships they are able to forge with other sectors.
He briefed media following the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) meeting held on Friday at Ekurhuleni West TVET College (EWC). The meeting was convened by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa in his capacity as the chairperson of the council.
However, he said the TVET college sector has unevenness in producing quality skills that are responsive to industry needs and the development agenda of the country.
He said some of the colleges are capable of managing the challenges while others have less resources. He said the council has committed to make contributions to address the challenges faced by the sector.
Minister Nzimande said four levels of immediate challenges have been identified in the TVET sector. They include poor delivery of teaching and learning; poor management and administration; limited access to workplace training opportunities; and limited employment of TVET graduates.
The Minister said a presentation was made during the meeting, which focused on the Adopt-A-TVET College initiative that was launched in November 2014.
Various stakeholders from government, civil society, TVET colleges, business, organised labour and HRDC signed the pledge and committed to participate in the initiative.
The Aim of the Adopt-A-TVET initiative is to create working partnerships between TVET colleges and stakeholders, mainly commerce and industry; to build colleges of excellence and to enable the supply of relevant, high quality skills that are responsive to the social and economic needs of the country.
He said the meeting also discussed the HRDC strategy, which was accepted by the Council, and will be presented to the Economic Ministerial Cluster and afterwards tabled to Cabinet for approval.
“The HRD Council accepted the Adopt-A-TVET College initiative. The model that was presented will be improved as it is implemented,” he said.
The Minister said the council also adopted a vision, mission, goals and programmes that reflect the needs of the economy as outlined in the revised HRDC strategy towards 2030.
“The vision is ‘Partnering to innovatively develop human potential’,” said Minister Nzimande.
Post-school education funding
Deputy President Ramaphosa said the council met in the wake of protests at universities across South Africa over high tuition fees.
He said underlying these protests is a desire to access education and to do so in an environment conducive for learning and teaching.
“It arises from an expectation among the youth of this country that education should be made available to all. The force and urgency of the protests arise from the lived experience of students, particularly those from poor backgrounds.
“It reflects their day-to-day struggles not only to receive a quality education but to be able to afford the basic necessities of life,” said Deputy President Ramaphosa.
He said the HRDC is uniquely placed to make a contribution to the call for an affordable and better resourced higher education sector.
“We are called upon to deepen and enhance our work as a council. We are called up to re-focus our efforts and to align our programme with the needs of the country.
“Thus, we should proceed with deliberation and urgency,” said the Deputy President.
Minister Nzimande said he provided the council with a brief update regarding the funding of tertiary institutions at the request of the Deputy President.
“All council members were in agreement that this requires time to address the immediate challenges facing us. As much as the immediate challenge is the funding of universities, we cannot focus on universities alone. We have to look at the entire post school and training sector,” said the Minister. - SAnews.gov.za
