FREE DAILY EMAIL

Date : 22/11/2005
Source: Department of Labour
Title: Mdladlana: Thuthuka Education Upliftment Project


  Address by Minister of Labour, Honourable MS Mdladlana, on the occasion of the Thuthuka Education Upliftment Project, KwaZulu-Natal

Programme Director,
Members of the accounting profession,
Representatives of various community structures present here,
SETA for Finance, Accounting, Management Consulting and other Financial Services (FASSET SETA) representatives present
Members of the media
Ladies and gentlemen
I greet you all.

In his new year speech on the eve of this century, in 1999, President Thabo Mbeki wished this century to be the century of hope and encouraged all to make ‘real advances to the achievement of a better life for all’ and ensure that every effort is made ‘to wipe out the legacy of the past racism, sexism and discrimination against people with disabilities’. It is this legacy that barred black people from participating in professions that were viewed as being reserved for the elite few. It is this legacy that reduced many black people to choose traditional professions such as nursing and teaching etc. I am not saying there is anything wrong with these professions, but the way many people were forced to choose them was wrong. It is this legacy that we hope the initiatives such as the one we are launching today will help to undo.

Over the last five years our country entered a new era of skills revolution. The launch of the National skills Development Strategy (NSDS) 2001-2005 marked a major milestone of this revolution. As a result of this strategy, we’ve seen a multitude of new and fascinating projects across various economic sectors. In the agricultural sector, paprika farmers and cotton growers have established enterprises that have become viable export businesses. The banking sector has ploughed huge sums into micro-finance development. And the clothing and textile sector has arranged small firms in clusters that, together, are producing high quality products. Hundreds of thousands of our people have benefited through such projects and thus ensuring that we achieve the targets that we set ourselves in the first NSDS. Programme Director, I must acknowledge that one of the biggest challenges we still face, is that of ensuring sustainability of these projects beyond the training period.

Programme Director, let me also take this opportunity, to acknowledge the role played by FASSET and the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA), for coming together under the umbrella of the well thought Thuthuka Education Upliftment project that we funded to the tune of R62 million under the National Skills Fund. The Project was piloted in the Eastern Cape and was very successful, you deserve applause

Today’s launch of the Thuthuka Education Upliftment project in KwaZulu-Natal bears testimony to our commitment to roll out this project to all corners of our beloved country to adequately prepare young people for the world of work. As part of our commitment, we have allocated a further R76 million under the National Skills Fund to the Thuthuka Project, to assist us in reaching out to young people especially in rural areas of our country to improve their numeracy, literacy and accounting skills and to raise their awareness in careers in the accounting profession. Through this project, we will target 3 200 Grade 11 and 12 learners from six rural districts in the KwaZulu-Natal province that will be selected by our colleagues in the Department of Education.

We launched a similar Thuthuka project in Limpopo during September last year, and we are continuing this campaign. The unfortunate thing with me is that, the more you give, the more I want. Please also remember our “regstellende aksie” the NSDS target aimed at ensuring that 85% of learners benefiting from this programme are black, 54% are women and 4% are people with disabilities.

Programme Director, it is through these public-private partnerships that we can turn the tide in addressing the plight of youth unemployment in our country. It is important that we continue to ensure that a key feature of all our youth targeted activities is career education in order to meet the skills needs of our country. We need to constantly and consistently provide young people with a vehicle to creatively participate in the development and the transformation of the rapid changing world of work. We need to provide young people with relevant information at the right time to help them make informed study and career choices. I am convinced that this project will provide them with the necessary tools to enhance our democracy and freedom.

I also want to take this opportunity to challenge and encourage new participants to this programme, to make good use of this opportunity, to behave and participate in a responsible manner and to run the race to the end. I am saying this because I know that there are great personal rewards within these fields and understand the impact that these fields can have in improving our collective lives and our country’s global competitiveness. A career in accounting can be daunting, but at the end, it offers rewarding and exciting experiences.

I wish FASSET, SAICA and all stakeholders involved in this initiative strength in your endeavours to supply relevant and quality skills to the South African labour market. I wish you success as you expand this initiative into KwaZulu-Natal and hope that success in this province will far exceed what we have already witnessed in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Labour
22 November 2005
   

SPONSORED BY

Advanced