Date: 18/06/2010
Source: The Department of Higher Education
Title: SA: Nzimande: Address by the Minister of Higher Education, at the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences graduation ceremony, Cape Town

Vice-Chancellors, Director and staff of AIMS Guests, Graduates, Ladies and Gentlemen

Thank you for inviting us to be part of your celebration of achievements by your students. We are proud to witness and be part of this momentous occasion for those that will soon be capped for their achievements. First and foremost, let me extend my congratulations to those who are graduating on your tremendous achievement.

While our entire country is caught up with the excitement of the Soccer World Cup, we must not lose sight of other momentous achievements. Therefore I believe this is a special moment because it is your capabilities and skills as graduates being celebrated today. As you step out armed with a post-graduate qualification, we look forward to your contributions in the fields of science and mathematics. The focus on these fields is particularly important for our continent and it forms an integral part of our strategy to develop and support programmes of this nature.

This is perhaps a new beginning for some of you as you begin to push the boundaries of knowledge production and explore the possibilities that the skills, knowledge and competencies you have acquired can be utilised. In some senses entering the world of postgraduate study is similar to a relay race as our graduates have a moral and social responsibility to become outstanding researchers in Africa and to begin to lead the world with knowledge especially in the areas of science and technology. It is perhaps our greatest challenge in Africa to train, retain and create a stimulus for others to be inspired to study and be part of a home-grown revolution of African scholarship. It is perhaps important to note that the Department has recognised this and provided ad-hoc funds annually to support this programme.

As we deliberate on the valuable contributions that you will make in the future, we must acknowledge the contribution and support of the families of our graduates and the catalytic role of this institution. There has to be due acknowledgement to the vital role played by academics who have been driving this programme since its inception in 2003. The acknowledgement must be accorded to the feeder institutions and their leadership who keep supplying students to this institute. I would also like to emphasise the value of the work being undertaken by the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), the results and outcomes which are visible today.

Our investment is driven and fuelled by recognition of the importance of science and maths for our continent. Our returns on investments must be calculated by measuring the impact that you as individuals will have in Africa and in your home countries. Our continent will continue to lag behind other regions of the world if we do not invest in human capital development. Investment in scientific and technological research is critical in this respect as it is the foundation of all developmental breakthroughs across the world. No world region has made any significant leap towards progress without active and conscious investment in science, innovation and technology.

This requires an activism of sorts and more importantly, commitment to ensure that we support and nurture talent. There are challenges that face us as we navigate and chart a path for our youth. A challenge that faces our continent and our country is how to take the leap into the future armed with science and technology. One solution posited is to increase the number of graduates and postgraduates. This is important but critical is creating spaces for this to happen and also to ensure that our countries can absorb our graduates and satisfy the thirst for knowledge. I would like to urge you to respond to the needs and challenges of our country and your own countries.

A key strategic lever that we have at our disposal in this country is the creation of our new department which brings together disparate streams of education and training under one banner. This has provided us with a new window for viewing the post-school landscape in our country. I would argue that this vision is not unique to South Africa but to other countries in the continent and resonates with trends in other parts of the world. A priority of my department is to increase enrolments and graduates in the sciences. I would like to see a commensurate increase in the number of our own students at this institute and a corresponding increase in women graduates.

South Africa is a host to more than 60 000 international students, of whom more than 95% are from the rest of the continent. These students are subsidised by the South African tax payers. It is a conscious effort by us as South Africa to want to contribute to the development of the continent. This is also because the country too, benefits tremendously from the presence of fellow Africans at our institutions, both as students and academics. We can make that gain one of high impact if the institute could increase its intake of South Africans.

The reason is that we need to ensure the sustainability of this project by making sure that we ensure that we produce future generations of academics here. I am aware that you draw your academics from all over the world but that should benefit our base, which is this institute, by reproducing the next generations of academics here.

In looking through your earlier annual reports, I was struck by the ease with which academics have come together for this exciting programme and constructed cutting edge modules in a unique partnership amongst our three partner institutions, the Universities of the Western Cape, Stellenbosch and Cape Town. I was struck by the possibilities that exist which must be tapped.

The AIMS has valuable model which can be used for several related objectives:
• Increasing the number of local graduates
• Collaborative research with local academics and our visiting faculty
• Focused drive at the undergraduate level at all our institutions to identify participants for this programme
• Honing and developing the model to ensure that there is a spin-off effect for the development of mathematics at our local schools.

We are awaiting the report of the review of the AIMS programme established by my Department late last year. I am sure that it will come up with further recommendations on how we move forward to take this institute to new heights.

Once again, I wish to congratulate everyone who has been involved in making this a successful programme for the continent. To the graduates, you are at the beginning of a new journey and adventure and I wish you every success for the future.

I thank you