The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) on Thursday launched the third National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS3) geared towards wiping out the skills deadlock that constrains the country’s economy.

Speaking at the strategy launch in Midrand, DHET Minister Blade Nzimande said that while the previous two five-year strategies had provided some of the necessary building blocks to tackle the dire skills shortage, a more coherent and integrated approach would be implemented through the NSDS3.

“We are not reinventing the wheel here, we are just improving on the effectiveness and efficiency of the country’s skills development system.”

The Minister noted that one of the biggest glitches in country’s further education system was the lack of credible information on the supply and demand of skills. To this extent, an institutional mechanism would be established to acquire and analyse relevant data, provided by the different education and training institutions, and employers.

Central to the thinking of the NSDS3, is the drive towards occupational-specific training. Nzimande pointed out that about 70% of training currently provided by Skills Education and Training Authorities (Setas) were short courses, and emphasised that most of these courses did not address the need for intermediate and higher level professional qualifications.

“We need to move away from quantity and start to focus on quality, if we are going to improve this country’s skills base. For instance, even though the system supposedly delivers about 9 000 artisans a year, we are still hopelessly short on artisans.”

Nzimande attributed this to inadequate programmes claiming to train artisans, but not delivering quality-trained people. The NSDS3 would focus on producing 10 000 new quality artisans, with training being monitored by an artisan moderating body to ensure adherence to minimum standards.

He added that the target of producing 10 000 new artisans a year, for the next five years, was only a starting number. “If we are able, we will train a 100 000 artisans a year.”

Further, the Minister pointed out that South Africa was saddled with about three-million youths between the ages of 18 and 24 years, who had a poor educational foundation and were ill prepared to undertake further education.

Key to relieving the plight of these young people would be improving access to Further Education and Training (FET) colleges in the country. “It is my dream that all people that participate in FET programmes will also gain work exposure. These colleges are central to government’s approach in providing youths and adults with skills fundamental to improved economic and social participation, productivity and social inclusion,” said Nzimande.

In line with Minister Ebrahim Patel’s New Growth Path, the DHET also planned to lean on the public sector, which is the country’s largest employer, to nurture a training environment that could increase the sector’s capacity, improve service delivery, and support the building of a developmental state.

“We need to effectively use the funds available, to achieve the goals set out in the new strategy,” said Nzimande.

The DHET planned to undertake a comprehensive review on the prior spending priorities of the National Skills Fund, to reprioritise its funding allocations in line with the goals of the NSDS3. “We will not be Father Christmas anymore, this fund will now operate in a clear framework to assist us in achieving our objectives,” he commented.

An additional mechanism to ensure that funds were spent on training in disciplines central to the social and economic development of South Africa, a Pivotal grant had been incorporated in the latest strategy.

Whereas companies that sent employees for training were previously entitled to a 50% mandatory grant, they would now receive 40%, and the other 10% would only be granted on the attainment of certain results related to occupational training.

While no specific targets for the strategy had been stated, Nzimande said that yearly implementation plans would be released, with targets where appropriate. The implementation plans and targets for 2011 would be discussed at the department’s budget vote speech in March.

The NSDS3 would be formally deployed on April 1, 2011.