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MEC's speech at East London Career Exhibition
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Speeches and Media Releases
 Education

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EASTERN CAPE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT

ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE MEC FOR EDUCATION : MR STONE SIZANI

AT THE THE EAST LONDON CAREER EXHIBITION

12 SEPTEMBER 2000



Chairperson of the occasion
 Principal of Hillside High, Mr P Van Vuuren,
 Members of the School Governing Body
 Members of the Community of Gelvandale
 Special Guests and invitees tothe occasion
 Ladies and Gentlemen

I greet you all this wonderful morning!!

1.Introduction

Let me start this address by expressing a sincere word of gratitude and a heartfelt thankfulness for the invitation to this noble and 
august occasion.

It is indeed august because it is about the future of our children, the bedrock of our investment in the future options of this country.

I understand you are gathered here to celebrate the fruits of your labour as a community in partnership with Hillside High, and I can 
imagine the amount of time and energy spent by the organizers to make this day a reality.It is indeed a rare occasion for communities to 
take such initiatives.

The Department appreciates your energies and resourcefulness in creating a better life for these children, especially in a context like 
ours in the Eastern Cape

Let me start my address by looking at challenges facing this country at the turn of the Millennium

2.Challenges facing South Africa this century

Chairperson, it is proper to begin with a declaration that postulates:

Challenges faced by an emerging economy, such as ours, in a context of rapid globalisation are immense and huge, as a result the content of 
what goes into the classroom has equally become a matter of national interest.

Key and central to the debate are the global shifts that keep on imposing fundamental questions about the directions our human resource 
development strategy is taking.Consequently the structure and content of programmes provided by our institutions have come under scrutiny.

There is now talk of high energy learnerships and interventions focusing on employment opportunities.Therefore, any career paths and career 
options should yield some high degree of employability.There are a few hints and guidelines I would love to share with you in the process 
of generating career paths and streams for these children.

2.1Key Guidelines for considerations

2.1.1Skills capacity

The issue of skills capacity of our labour force and management in general has taken on a new meaning and level of importance due to an 
increasingly integrated and competitive world economy where innovation, rapid changes in Technology, work organization and the movement 
towards information intensive modes of production and services, are the order of the day.

Of necessity is the demand for appropriate skills for effective delivery of service, as well as skills that are meaningful in the 
structuring and shaping of both our own personal destiny and the development of this country.

The Green Paper on Human Resource Development Strategy once published by the Department of Labour provides a few signposts for providers.

Firstly, is the notion of linkages and articulation between human resource development path and the economic labour market and social 
development trends. (i.e. skills relevance).

Memories of countries like Zimbabwe are still fresh in our minds where rapid expansion of education and training had no relationship to 
skills requirement of industry, leaving masses of people with worthless papers and qualification inflation.

Oversimplification of this assertion might be mistaken for an advocacy for a system that slavishly catches a cold at the slightest sneeze 
of the market place.The emphasis is on development of skills and knowledge which will underpin, and sometimes play a catalytic role in the 
promotion of employment in the future.

Secondly, is the development of skills that must be able to anticipate the future needs of this country and play a catalytic role.For many 
industries this calls for a drastic shift in work organization, a shift away from a typically hierarchical system of work organization with 
a concentration of high levels of skills at the top and massive under-skilling and low levels of competency at the bottom.

The route is for flatter organizations which are enhanced by constant interventions through ABET programmes, and new management skills and 
production designs.For so long weve had people, especially in the public service, with low levels of qualifications, but many years of 
experience in the system, low levels of skills but doing routine work for years.Clearly no career paths and ambitions.

The third pillar is partnerships in the provision of training and career pathing.In the main I am referring to partnerships between public 
and private providers, between state institutions and civil society.These are important for purposes of facilitating new entries into the 
labour market and to support new emerging enterprises.In the past there were concepts of Internship, apprenticeship, housemanship, etc. 
that served as testimony to the viability of the model.

The biggest problem has always been that the employer calls the shots and largely determines when to provide that work experience component 
of learning.Nothing is mandatory or obligatory but depended on their willingness.

There is ample evidence that South African companies have only a moderate record, comparatively speaking, with regard to skills investment, 
as a result many providers and institutions enrol students without hopes of placement contracts.Our biggest responsibility then as this 
community is to begin to search for companies that will be willing to provide apprenticeship for the necessary experience where 
apprenticeship is needed.

This brings me to the fourth pillar, which is the countrys level of spending on training.South Africa is reported to be low compared with 
other developing countries and specifically our main trading partners.Key sectors are reported to be spending only 2% or less or their 
payroll and, by comparison, the countries wecompete with on the world market are spending between 4% and 6%.

56% of small firms do no informal training at all, while 425 of all firms spend less than 1% of the payroll on training.

3.Emerging issues

The solution does not lie on throwing money into the problem or unbridled expansion of institution  based training and fly by nights, but 
on a more coordinated strategy.

In the process of co-ordination between Labour and Education areas of consensus have emerged.

Firstly, is view that learning which incorporates both structured learning programmes as well as work experience is something well worth 
holding on to

Secondly, the value of Higher Education and Training institutions around issues of productivity and employability benefits is 
unquestionable.

Thirdly, put in place a system which promotes more learning in areas whereemployment and incomes are growing, meaning a constant exchange 
between labour markets and providers.

Fourthly, is the need to generate a mechanisms of opening up more qualifications to most areas of economic and social activity, ranging 
from community health workers to the tourism industry, traditional electricians to plumbers etc.

Lastly, is the issue of legislation and a legislative framework to give meaning to such a strategy.The South African Skills Development Act 
No. 97 of 1998 was passed to make provisions for skills development.On the one hand, it provides for the generation of a skills levy 
legislation which proscribes employer contributions towards skilling of our human resources.

On the other, it sets up a Sector Education and Training Authority whose task is to ensure that all providers have put in place:

* their Sector Skills Plan
* workplace plan
* learnerships
* quality assurance mechanisms

Chair, strategies are by no means exhaustive but requires of us to explore new avenues to find solutions.This is but the beginning of your 
journey in assisting this country towards the realization of its noble goals.

I thank you

Amandla!

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