Sowetan
*College education will benefit young people* /Government and business to train and employ more skilled graduates/ *Blade Nzimande, Sowetan, Johannesburg, 31 January 2011*In South Africa today, it is clear that there is a serious shortage of intermediate technical personnel.
These include artisans and technicians, people with IT and communications skills as well as well qualified people in the services industries, from banking and insurance to hospitality to personal services.
Training people for such work is the domain of colleges, particularly Further Education and Training (FET) colleges.
We have 50 public FET colleges with over 260 campuses. The total number of students here is only about 220 000 compared with about 850 000 students at public universities.
This means there are about four university students for every college student. The international norm in both developed and developing countries is to have more college than university students.
It is clear, therefore, that we need to expand the college sector significantly. We also have to expand the range of courses in the next few years.
In expanding the college sector, we must consider both the supply of places in colleges and the demand from students for vocational training.
While we increase the number of college places available, we must also persuade young people that they will benefit from a college education.
I have had a number of meetings with public and private employers and we have agreed on the importance of providing further opportunities for workplace placements for students and college graduates.
Some large private employers have already pledged to increase their participation in training artisans.
At its national executive conference lekgotla, the ANC asserted the importance of getting state-owned enterprises (SOEs) involved in training.
At one time -- during the apartheid era and for a while afterwards -- SOEs were the main training ground for artisans and I expect them to increase their contribution once again.
Since 1994, all governments have recognised the importance of skills development, but have not succeeded in expanding training opportunities sufficiently to overcome the skills shortages.
I believe a huge step forward in tackling the problem was taken in 2009 when President Jacob Zuma decided to create the Department of Higher Education and Training which brought together all areas of skills development, particularly colleges, universities, and the Sector Education and Training Authorities (Setas).
The closer relationship that is starting to develop between Setas, FET colleges and universities is reflected in the new national skills development strategy.
The Setas will help colleges to strengthen their ties with employers and will step up funding learnerships and other forms of training that include both workplace and classroom requirements and lead to occupational qualifications.
While we are opening up training opportunities, we also have to persuade young people that a college education is worthwhile. An important step has already been taken in this regard through the exemption of NSFAS beneficiaries from fees at these colleges.
Another step in this regard is better career guidance. The South African Qualifications Authority has established a career advice website (*www.careerhelp.org.za <http://www.careerhelp.org.za>*), a career advice helpline (0860-111-673) and is producing career guidance material for schools.
* /The writer is Minister of Higher Education and Training/ -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
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