Date: 19/03/2004
Source: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
Title: N Singh: Facilitating an Entrepreneurial Environment in KwaZulu-Natal
ADDRESS BY MR NAREND SINGH, KWAZULU-NATAL MINISTER OF EDUCATION AND CULTURE, AT A SEMINAR ON "FACILITATING AN ENTREPRENEURIAL ENVIRONMENT IN KWAZULU-NATAL" AT THE ROYAL HOTEL, DURBAN, 19 March 2004
My esteemed colleague Mr Roger Burrows, Minister of Economic Development and Tourism
Mr Mel Clark, Head of the Department of Economic Development and Tourism
Mr John Orford of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, University of Cape Town
Mr Lucky Moloi Executive Director of the Interface Group
Professor S Cassim of the University of KwaZulu-Natal
Dr T Davies of the Durban Institute of Technology
Mr Protas Madlala, of eThekwini Business Development Corporation
Mr Sean Achim of the KwaZulu-Natal Innovation Centre
Professor Battacharya of the University of KwaZulu-Natal
Mr Chester Zwane of Engen
Mr Solly Mlondobozi of Mondi
Ms Tozi Baloyi of Absa
Ms Nomkhosi Mbonambi of the People's Bank
Mr Ian Shibe of Standard Bank
Senior officials of both departments present
Other honoured guests
Ladies and gentlemen
I would like to say at the outset how delighted and privileged I am to be here today at a seminar that directly addresses issues I see as absolutely crucial to our future in KwaZulu-Natal and in the wider South Africa as well. I congratulate my colleague, Mr Roger Burrows, and his Head of Department, Mr Mel Clark, on having the foresight and vision to convene this seminar and in getting together such a high calibre participation from the academic world, as well as from the private sector. I believe the discussions today could lay the groundwork for developments in post-school opportunity that will impact beneficially on the lives of thousands of young people and be to the benefit of the economy and society as a whole. I see a need for a close meshing of the activities of my Department and the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, and in this respect I find it very helpful that my cabinet colleague, Mr Burrows, himself has a professional background as an educationist and therefore has the surest grasp of what is required from our side, as well as what is possible.
Ladies and gentlemen, we who are involved in education concern ourselves with providing our learners with absolutely the best quality of teaching that is available. We seek to maximise the flow out of our schools of leavers with the education and skills that equip them to make their way successfully in the information-based economy of the 21st century. But we always have to bear in mind that school leaving is not a cut-off point. We as educationists are part of a continuum that runs into the school-leaving individual's early adult life. Matriculation can never be considered an end in itself. The proportion of school-leavers who find employment is surely just as important as the percentage pass. Statistics suggest that 5% of our school-leavers find employment and 13% move into tertiary education. What happens to the other 82%? That is the worrying question and I believe it lies at the heart of what is to be discussed at this seminar today.
I believe it is one of the greatest challenges facing those of us who are in government - how to find productive and rewarding work for the 150 000 or so school leavers who enter the job market every year in KwaZulu-Natal. At the current national rate of economic growth it is difficult to predict any appreciable increase in that 5% who do find jobs in existing commerce and industry in the formal economy or in the public sector. The only alternative is in the emerging economy where small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) do offer opportunities for individuals to apply their skills in return for a wage or a share in profits or to go into business on their own account. Obviously however, the number of opportunities is limited by the number of small enterprises. It follows that we need to greatly expand activity in this sector; develop an ethos of self-help and entrepreneurship, a mindset among our school leavers that equips them to enter the world of business or the service industries and make their own way. It might sound harsh and it certainly is daunting, but there is no alternative apart from mass unemployment and the hardship and social disintegration that go with it. I see it as our duty as educationists to produce individuals who, if they cannot be taken up in the formal economy - the established commercial and industrial enterprises - are equipped to make it on their own.
We cannot afford to shy away from this challenge. Indeed, I think we need to get away from a mindset that all is lost if the developed economy cannot employ the rising generation of school leavers; that there is something second rate or undesirable about a small business sector. We need to get away from thinking of this sort. South Africa is not a developed country (though it certainly does have a developed sector) it is a still developing country. I believe we need to think in terms of a dual logic economy, where giant high-technology corporations coexist with a multiplicity of small firms and are mutually interdependent. It was a dual logic economy that, for instance, served Japan so very well in the decades of reconstruction after the Second World War and I believe it is a model that could serve us very well in our present phase.
Ladies and gentlemen, I know the Department of Economic Development and Tourism pays particular attention to the SMME sector. I know the Ithala Development Finance Corporation - the provincial parastatal that reports to DEDT - is heavily involved in assisting and developing this sector as well. And I have been gratified to discover in recent months that DEDT is taking an intelligent interest in the education of our schoolchildren so that they can be led into paths of gainful employment and entrepreneurship on leaving school, instead of into poverty, hardship, frustration and possibly worse.
This coincides entirely with my thinking. I see vocational training - in practical subjects such as bookkeeping and business practice - as the key to producing school-leavers who are immediately employable or are equipped to set up in business on their own account. The schools where education of this sort is offered are the 15 Further Education and Training (FET) institutions that have been established in various parts of the province. I believe much of our future focus has to be on the FET institutions. I think the training offered has to be such as to produce what is actually needed by commerce and industry; also, what would equip the individual to operate on his or her own.
And here there have been exploratory discussions between officials of my Department and of DEDT. They were initiated by DEDT and are in the very early stages. As I understand it, DEDT seeks some sort of interaction with my Department so that a spirit of entrepreneurship can be fostered in our schools, so that learners who are approaching school leaving can be made aware of the opportunities that exist in the small business sector and can leave school with those opportunities as a realistic option. I emphasise again that these discussions are in their very early, explorative stages. A submission on them has not yet been made to my Chief Executive Officer. I understand that DEDT would like to see entrepreneurship promoted among Grade 12 learners; to have input to a programme on entrepreneurship that would add value to existing school programmes; also to facilitate partnerships between schools and the corporate sector.
These are interesting ideas, ladies and gentlemen and, as I say, the thinking coincides very much with what I have always believed. From the time I took over this portfolio of Education and Culture I have argued the need for partnership with all role players, including the corporate private sector. And if value will be added by partnership with another government department, then so be it. I believe these ideas have to be explored further, and so rooted are they in the realities of our situation in KwaZulu-Natal that I am sure they will eventually bear fruit in one form or another. I would like to place on record my appreciation of the initiative of my colleague and his Department in addressing this very live and crucial issue.
However, I must point out that there could be one or two constraints. One is that my Department is committed to delivery of the National Curriculum. There can be no deviation from that. I am unable to offer "Entrepreneurship", or anything of the sort, as a new school subject - and I know my Hon colleague is fully aware of that, being an educationist himself. Also, my department is committed to the principle of Mayihlome - a minimising of taking of learners out of the formal classroom for non-curriculum activities. Mayihlome requires the curriculum to be formally taught for the requisite number of hours. It seems, therefore, that if programmes on entrepreneurship were to be introduced in our schools, it would have to be out of normal school hours- after school or over weekends.
However, I believe this still allows our two Departments, the business sector and the academic sector much room in which to explore the possibilities. It seems that if DEDT wishes to target Grade 12 school leavers, the FET institutions would be the logical place to start, though obviously any school should be allowed to avail itself of opportunities such as this. These are questions with a vital bearing on our future in KwaZulu-Natal - social and political as much as economic - and I am sure there will be much quality discussion of this matter today. It will in any case be pursued at departmental level. It seems to me that if we are involved in teaching the skills by which learners should be able to make a living when they leave school, it makes sense that the entrepreneurial instinct should be awakened in them and they should be made aware of the opportunities that exist and how they can go about seizing them.
Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we are making progress in Education. The logistical nightmare of inequality and fragmentation that we inherited in 1994 is well known, but I believe we are beginning to overcome the challenges and eliminate the backlogs. We have taken certain innovative steps by which I believe the backlogs of inequality could be made up faster than at first imagined possible. The day is not too far distant when we will be able to offer the learners of this province something close to the quality education provided for in the constitution. But, as I said earlier, the schooling phase is only part of a continuum. School leavers have to find work or business opportunities if they are to provide for themselves and their families. Otherwise what is the point of education?
The issues being addressed at today's seminar will, I am sure, bring us greater clarity in this area and a better sense of purpose. I am glad to see such a strong representation today of the corporate private sector, including the financial institutions. It is the large corporations that can make small businesses successful by transferring skills and expertise and by trading with them, or employing their services, wherever possible. Small businesses, on the other hand, generate the economic activity that creates markets for the large corporate concerns. Finance is the oxygen of business at whatever level, and the banks and other financial institutions have a critical role to play if entrepreneurs are to be encouraged to get off the ground.
I believe all sectors have to pull together if we are to create in KwaZulu-Natal a vibrant, opportunity-spotting economic system where individuals are determined to succeed and contribute to making reality of the wonderful economic potential of this province. I see education as the key because without a skilled and educated workforce and managerial class, and without an entrepreneurial class with business skills, we will get nowhere. Since I took over this portfolio about a year ago I have gone out of my way to engage all stakeholders - which means virtually every sector of society - in making their input to education. Last year the Department convened a Stakeholders Forum - which included the corporate private sector, among others - and another is to be held this year. I see today's Seminar, organised by the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, as another very important step along the road toward achieving what we all want for KwaZulu-Natal.
Your objective of fostering the entrepreneurial spirit coincides exactly with my own philosophy and I wish you well in your discussions today. Thank you for your attention.
Issued by: Ministry of Education and Culture, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
19 March 2004
Source: KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
Title: N Singh: Facilitating an Entrepreneurial Environment in KwaZulu-Natal
ADDRESS BY MR NAREND SINGH, KWAZULU-NATAL MINISTER OF EDUCATION AND CULTURE, AT A SEMINAR ON "FACILITATING AN ENTREPRENEURIAL ENVIRONMENT IN KWAZULU-NATAL" AT THE ROYAL HOTEL, DURBAN, 19 March 2004
My esteemed colleague Mr Roger Burrows, Minister of Economic Development and Tourism
Mr Mel Clark, Head of the Department of Economic Development and Tourism
Mr John Orford of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, University of Cape Town
Mr Lucky Moloi Executive Director of the Interface Group
Professor S Cassim of the University of KwaZulu-Natal
Dr T Davies of the Durban Institute of Technology
Mr Protas Madlala, of eThekwini Business Development Corporation
Mr Sean Achim of the KwaZulu-Natal Innovation Centre
Professor Battacharya of the University of KwaZulu-Natal
Mr Chester Zwane of Engen
Mr Solly Mlondobozi of Mondi
Ms Tozi Baloyi of Absa
Ms Nomkhosi Mbonambi of the People's Bank
Mr Ian Shibe of Standard Bank
Senior officials of both departments present
Other honoured guests
Ladies and gentlemen
I would like to say at the outset how delighted and privileged I am to be here today at a seminar that directly addresses issues I see as absolutely crucial to our future in KwaZulu-Natal and in the wider South Africa as well. I congratulate my colleague, Mr Roger Burrows, and his Head of Department, Mr Mel Clark, on having the foresight and vision to convene this seminar and in getting together such a high calibre participation from the academic world, as well as from the private sector. I believe the discussions today could lay the groundwork for developments in post-school opportunity that will impact beneficially on the lives of thousands of young people and be to the benefit of the economy and society as a whole. I see a need for a close meshing of the activities of my Department and the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, and in this respect I find it very helpful that my cabinet colleague, Mr Burrows, himself has a professional background as an educationist and therefore has the surest grasp of what is required from our side, as well as what is possible.
Ladies and gentlemen, we who are involved in education concern ourselves with providing our learners with absolutely the best quality of teaching that is available. We seek to maximise the flow out of our schools of leavers with the education and skills that equip them to make their way successfully in the information-based economy of the 21st century. But we always have to bear in mind that school leaving is not a cut-off point. We as educationists are part of a continuum that runs into the school-leaving individual's early adult life. Matriculation can never be considered an end in itself. The proportion of school-leavers who find employment is surely just as important as the percentage pass. Statistics suggest that 5% of our school-leavers find employment and 13% move into tertiary education. What happens to the other 82%? That is the worrying question and I believe it lies at the heart of what is to be discussed at this seminar today.
I believe it is one of the greatest challenges facing those of us who are in government - how to find productive and rewarding work for the 150 000 or so school leavers who enter the job market every year in KwaZulu-Natal. At the current national rate of economic growth it is difficult to predict any appreciable increase in that 5% who do find jobs in existing commerce and industry in the formal economy or in the public sector. The only alternative is in the emerging economy where small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) do offer opportunities for individuals to apply their skills in return for a wage or a share in profits or to go into business on their own account. Obviously however, the number of opportunities is limited by the number of small enterprises. It follows that we need to greatly expand activity in this sector; develop an ethos of self-help and entrepreneurship, a mindset among our school leavers that equips them to enter the world of business or the service industries and make their own way. It might sound harsh and it certainly is daunting, but there is no alternative apart from mass unemployment and the hardship and social disintegration that go with it. I see it as our duty as educationists to produce individuals who, if they cannot be taken up in the formal economy - the established commercial and industrial enterprises - are equipped to make it on their own.
We cannot afford to shy away from this challenge. Indeed, I think we need to get away from a mindset that all is lost if the developed economy cannot employ the rising generation of school leavers; that there is something second rate or undesirable about a small business sector. We need to get away from thinking of this sort. South Africa is not a developed country (though it certainly does have a developed sector) it is a still developing country. I believe we need to think in terms of a dual logic economy, where giant high-technology corporations coexist with a multiplicity of small firms and are mutually interdependent. It was a dual logic economy that, for instance, served Japan so very well in the decades of reconstruction after the Second World War and I believe it is a model that could serve us very well in our present phase.
Ladies and gentlemen, I know the Department of Economic Development and Tourism pays particular attention to the SMME sector. I know the Ithala Development Finance Corporation - the provincial parastatal that reports to DEDT - is heavily involved in assisting and developing this sector as well. And I have been gratified to discover in recent months that DEDT is taking an intelligent interest in the education of our schoolchildren so that they can be led into paths of gainful employment and entrepreneurship on leaving school, instead of into poverty, hardship, frustration and possibly worse.
This coincides entirely with my thinking. I see vocational training - in practical subjects such as bookkeeping and business practice - as the key to producing school-leavers who are immediately employable or are equipped to set up in business on their own account. The schools where education of this sort is offered are the 15 Further Education and Training (FET) institutions that have been established in various parts of the province. I believe much of our future focus has to be on the FET institutions. I think the training offered has to be such as to produce what is actually needed by commerce and industry; also, what would equip the individual to operate on his or her own.
And here there have been exploratory discussions between officials of my Department and of DEDT. They were initiated by DEDT and are in the very early stages. As I understand it, DEDT seeks some sort of interaction with my Department so that a spirit of entrepreneurship can be fostered in our schools, so that learners who are approaching school leaving can be made aware of the opportunities that exist in the small business sector and can leave school with those opportunities as a realistic option. I emphasise again that these discussions are in their very early, explorative stages. A submission on them has not yet been made to my Chief Executive Officer. I understand that DEDT would like to see entrepreneurship promoted among Grade 12 learners; to have input to a programme on entrepreneurship that would add value to existing school programmes; also to facilitate partnerships between schools and the corporate sector.
These are interesting ideas, ladies and gentlemen and, as I say, the thinking coincides very much with what I have always believed. From the time I took over this portfolio of Education and Culture I have argued the need for partnership with all role players, including the corporate private sector. And if value will be added by partnership with another government department, then so be it. I believe these ideas have to be explored further, and so rooted are they in the realities of our situation in KwaZulu-Natal that I am sure they will eventually bear fruit in one form or another. I would like to place on record my appreciation of the initiative of my colleague and his Department in addressing this very live and crucial issue.
However, I must point out that there could be one or two constraints. One is that my Department is committed to delivery of the National Curriculum. There can be no deviation from that. I am unable to offer "Entrepreneurship", or anything of the sort, as a new school subject - and I know my Hon colleague is fully aware of that, being an educationist himself. Also, my department is committed to the principle of Mayihlome - a minimising of taking of learners out of the formal classroom for non-curriculum activities. Mayihlome requires the curriculum to be formally taught for the requisite number of hours. It seems, therefore, that if programmes on entrepreneurship were to be introduced in our schools, it would have to be out of normal school hours- after school or over weekends.
However, I believe this still allows our two Departments, the business sector and the academic sector much room in which to explore the possibilities. It seems that if DEDT wishes to target Grade 12 school leavers, the FET institutions would be the logical place to start, though obviously any school should be allowed to avail itself of opportunities such as this. These are questions with a vital bearing on our future in KwaZulu-Natal - social and political as much as economic - and I am sure there will be much quality discussion of this matter today. It will in any case be pursued at departmental level. It seems to me that if we are involved in teaching the skills by which learners should be able to make a living when they leave school, it makes sense that the entrepreneurial instinct should be awakened in them and they should be made aware of the opportunities that exist and how they can go about seizing them.
Ladies and gentlemen, I believe we are making progress in Education. The logistical nightmare of inequality and fragmentation that we inherited in 1994 is well known, but I believe we are beginning to overcome the challenges and eliminate the backlogs. We have taken certain innovative steps by which I believe the backlogs of inequality could be made up faster than at first imagined possible. The day is not too far distant when we will be able to offer the learners of this province something close to the quality education provided for in the constitution. But, as I said earlier, the schooling phase is only part of a continuum. School leavers have to find work or business opportunities if they are to provide for themselves and their families. Otherwise what is the point of education?
The issues being addressed at today's seminar will, I am sure, bring us greater clarity in this area and a better sense of purpose. I am glad to see such a strong representation today of the corporate private sector, including the financial institutions. It is the large corporations that can make small businesses successful by transferring skills and expertise and by trading with them, or employing their services, wherever possible. Small businesses, on the other hand, generate the economic activity that creates markets for the large corporate concerns. Finance is the oxygen of business at whatever level, and the banks and other financial institutions have a critical role to play if entrepreneurs are to be encouraged to get off the ground.
I believe all sectors have to pull together if we are to create in KwaZulu-Natal a vibrant, opportunity-spotting economic system where individuals are determined to succeed and contribute to making reality of the wonderful economic potential of this province. I see education as the key because without a skilled and educated workforce and managerial class, and without an entrepreneurial class with business skills, we will get nowhere. Since I took over this portfolio about a year ago I have gone out of my way to engage all stakeholders - which means virtually every sector of society - in making their input to education. Last year the Department convened a Stakeholders Forum - which included the corporate private sector, among others - and another is to be held this year. I see today's Seminar, organised by the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, as another very important step along the road toward achieving what we all want for KwaZulu-Natal.
Your objective of fostering the entrepreneurial spirit coincides exactly with my own philosophy and I wish you well in your discussions today. Thank you for your attention.
Issued by: Ministry of Education and Culture, KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government
19 March 2004
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