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Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa, as Chairperson of the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC), today, 23 June 2017, chaired a successful 18th meeting of the Council at the CSIR Knowledge Commons, Pretoria.

The 18th HRDC meeting was proceeded by a guided tour to various Science and Technology research stations at the CSIR, where Deputy President Ramaphosa together with council members had the opportunity to witness high level research and development opportunities offered at the nano technology centre.

Further, the Deputy President and council members received progress report on the work of CSIR in relation to their funding, research, innovation and human capital development.  

Council approved the Terms of Reference of the Standing Committee on Maths and Science. The Committee is responsible to develop strategies to address the current challenges facing schooling outcomes and training of Science and Maths teachers.

With regards to the support and funding model for the poor and the “missing middle” students, the Council, received progress achieved by the Department of Higher Education and Training in determining the alternative financing and operating models for funding.

Meaningful consideration will be made on clarifying the legislative framework, based on public policy findings, and recommendations of the Presidential and Ministerial Task Team. 

The Department of Public Enterprises provided an appraisal to council, on State Owned Companies (SOCs) contribution to scarce and critical skills in response to government’s various skills development policy frameworks. The Council agreed on facilitating an integrated approach for skills development with regards to training of artisans and strategies for skills retention.

The Council further, noted a steady progress achieved in building strong partnership between industry and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Colleges through programmes such as, the Adopt-A-College, Institutional exchanges and Operation Phakisa. In this regard, the council further noted the challenges of funding, capacity building through alignment between industry and curriculum development, including dealing with the challenges of certification of graduates.

Furthermore, the council expressed the need to embark on an Imbizo/Phakisa approach in dealing with the challenges facing the TVET sector.

In conclusion, emphasised the need for a more coordinated approach in addressing the Human Resource Development challenges of our country.

Issued by the Presidency