Date:18/04/2006
Source: Department of Education
Title: Hindle: SA Society for Co-operative Education Conference
Address by the Director-General of the Department of Education, Duncan Hindle, at the Southern African Society for Co-operative Education conference, Riviera International Hotel, Vereeniging
A FUNDAMENTAL CONTRIBUTION TO SKILLS
The challenge to build human capital in South Africa has three main components.
The first is to improve the quality of education in all our schools. The quality of general education has not improved for children in most rural and township schools.
The second is to ensure the success of students in further education and training colleges, universities of technology and universities. The number of graduates from these institutions has more than doubled over the last decade. That is encouraging. But the actual success rate is not what it should be. Most importantly we need to encourage students to acquire skills in those areas that are needed to meet our target of 6% growth.
The third challenge is to make the national skills development strategy (the industrial training programme) work more effectively to support a more competitive business sector and a more efficient state. The broad challenge is to reduce the level of youth unemployment, in other words to prepare young people for work more effectively.
To improve the quality of schooling for all we have embarked a number of key interventions.
First, we have major plans to improve the school resources of our poorest schools, particularly in rural areas, so that we supplement basic infrastructure adequate for learning (toilets, water, electricity, classrooms) with exciting learning resources and materials in hard and soft format. E-learning is one key way in which we intend to bridge the divide between rich and deprived schools.
Second, we have resolved to pursue quality maths and science education for all through a targeted focus school approach to the learning of maths and science. Our Dinaledi schools are currently being expanded to 529 and our target is to have 50 000 maths and science matriculates by the year 2008, that is, double the number we have at the moment. Once that target is achieved the focus-school strategy will be expanded to more schools until all secondary schools have a specialist mission and purpose. This requires a significant investment in textbooks and laboratories for science and information technologies. It also means improving the abilities of our teachers to teach maths and science.
Third, we have introduced a new curriculum in grades 10 to 12 and this brings to an end our 10-year long transformation of the curriculum. It is a curriculum for the 21st century and it requires grade 9s to make the best career choices possible.
The second component of government’s strategy is to increase the number of matriculants who go on to acquire intermediate and high level skills.
First, we are in the process of recapitalising our further education and training colleges.
Currently R1.5 billion is budgeted for this over the next three-year Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period. In addition, all college sites have the capacity to absorb more students on skill programmes especially those related to training for construction industry and infrastructure development, the needs of the Integrated Development Plan (IDPs) and early childhood education.
Second, we are seeking to improve equitable access to higher education institutions through targeting National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funds to certain fields of study in science and technology.
Third, the Department of Education (DoE) has, together with Treasury, undertaken a major review of the financing of higher education. I will soon be in a position to announce major changes in this regard.
The third component of government’s human capital strategy is the national skills programme. Government has played a leading role in aligning the skills supply of the education and training sector with the demands of the economy, that is, the skills needs of the private sector, state operated enterprises and government.
To focus and facilitate this process the Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA), which includes government, business and labour leaders, has been established. JIPSA serves as a central clearing house for discussion on skills needs and strategy development.
It is here that technology universities have a fundamental role to play.
Because we know we are short of high-level skills. We are short of business and financial managers. We are short of men and women with engineering skills. We are short of men and women with information technology (IT) skills.
All recent studies and surveys confirm what we already know about scarce skills - management, engineering, and IT are key areas of shortage.
During the decade of freedom there have been fundamental changes in occupational structure, in qualifications and in skills required in different economic sectors.
However, the overall pattern is for upskilling or an increase in “skill intensity”, especially in managerial, professional and associate professional occupations.
In addition, there is an increasing need for job specific, technical skill, which is paralleled by an increased demand for skill types that cut across sectors and occupation, including basic skills, generic skill (including verbal, numerical, planning and communication skills), IT skills and management skills.
In closing,
Technology universities have made a phenomenal contribution to the growth of human capital in South Africa. This is evident through the massive expansion in enrolment in the recent past and the massive improvement in qualification profile of graduates.
It is very encouraging to see that it is not only men who are succeeding in science, engineering and technology fields but also increasingly women. This is a positive development.
The DoE has clearly signalled that career-oriented education needs to be expanded. The market requires that graduates increasingly master technical competencies and have practical work-based experience.
My concern is that technology universities are still focused on the diploma qualification rather than the B Tech. We need to change that focus so as to ensure that the skills graduates learn are more suitable for our rapidly growing and complex economy.
Thank you.
Issued by: Department of Education
18 April 2005
Source: Department of Education
Title: Hindle: SA Society for Co-operative Education Conference
Address by the Director-General of the Department of Education, Duncan Hindle, at the Southern African Society for Co-operative Education conference, Riviera International Hotel, Vereeniging
A FUNDAMENTAL CONTRIBUTION TO SKILLS
The challenge to build human capital in South Africa has three main components.
The first is to improve the quality of education in all our schools. The quality of general education has not improved for children in most rural and township schools.
The second is to ensure the success of students in further education and training colleges, universities of technology and universities. The number of graduates from these institutions has more than doubled over the last decade. That is encouraging. But the actual success rate is not what it should be. Most importantly we need to encourage students to acquire skills in those areas that are needed to meet our target of 6% growth.
The third challenge is to make the national skills development strategy (the industrial training programme) work more effectively to support a more competitive business sector and a more efficient state. The broad challenge is to reduce the level of youth unemployment, in other words to prepare young people for work more effectively.
To improve the quality of schooling for all we have embarked a number of key interventions.
First, we have major plans to improve the school resources of our poorest schools, particularly in rural areas, so that we supplement basic infrastructure adequate for learning (toilets, water, electricity, classrooms) with exciting learning resources and materials in hard and soft format. E-learning is one key way in which we intend to bridge the divide between rich and deprived schools.
Second, we have resolved to pursue quality maths and science education for all through a targeted focus school approach to the learning of maths and science. Our Dinaledi schools are currently being expanded to 529 and our target is to have 50 000 maths and science matriculates by the year 2008, that is, double the number we have at the moment. Once that target is achieved the focus-school strategy will be expanded to more schools until all secondary schools have a specialist mission and purpose. This requires a significant investment in textbooks and laboratories for science and information technologies. It also means improving the abilities of our teachers to teach maths and science.
Third, we have introduced a new curriculum in grades 10 to 12 and this brings to an end our 10-year long transformation of the curriculum. It is a curriculum for the 21st century and it requires grade 9s to make the best career choices possible.
The second component of government’s strategy is to increase the number of matriculants who go on to acquire intermediate and high level skills.
First, we are in the process of recapitalising our further education and training colleges.
Currently R1.5 billion is budgeted for this over the next three-year Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) period. In addition, all college sites have the capacity to absorb more students on skill programmes especially those related to training for construction industry and infrastructure development, the needs of the Integrated Development Plan (IDPs) and early childhood education.
Second, we are seeking to improve equitable access to higher education institutions through targeting National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funds to certain fields of study in science and technology.
Third, the Department of Education (DoE) has, together with Treasury, undertaken a major review of the financing of higher education. I will soon be in a position to announce major changes in this regard.
The third component of government’s human capital strategy is the national skills programme. Government has played a leading role in aligning the skills supply of the education and training sector with the demands of the economy, that is, the skills needs of the private sector, state operated enterprises and government.
To focus and facilitate this process the Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA), which includes government, business and labour leaders, has been established. JIPSA serves as a central clearing house for discussion on skills needs and strategy development.
It is here that technology universities have a fundamental role to play.
Because we know we are short of high-level skills. We are short of business and financial managers. We are short of men and women with engineering skills. We are short of men and women with information technology (IT) skills.
All recent studies and surveys confirm what we already know about scarce skills - management, engineering, and IT are key areas of shortage.
During the decade of freedom there have been fundamental changes in occupational structure, in qualifications and in skills required in different economic sectors.
However, the overall pattern is for upskilling or an increase in “skill intensity”, especially in managerial, professional and associate professional occupations.
In addition, there is an increasing need for job specific, technical skill, which is paralleled by an increased demand for skill types that cut across sectors and occupation, including basic skills, generic skill (including verbal, numerical, planning and communication skills), IT skills and management skills.
In closing,
Technology universities have made a phenomenal contribution to the growth of human capital in South Africa. This is evident through the massive expansion in enrolment in the recent past and the massive improvement in qualification profile of graduates.
It is very encouraging to see that it is not only men who are succeeding in science, engineering and technology fields but also increasingly women. This is a positive development.
The DoE has clearly signalled that career-oriented education needs to be expanded. The market requires that graduates increasingly master technical competencies and have practical work-based experience.
My concern is that technology universities are still focused on the diploma qualification rather than the B Tech. We need to change that focus so as to ensure that the skills graduates learn are more suitable for our rapidly growing and complex economy.
Thank you.
Issued by: Department of Education
18 April 2005
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