R3.2m to battle skills shortage

The Department of Higher Education has allocated R3.2 million to deal with scarce skills for next year.

Higher education minister Blade Nzimande says government had placed skills development as a top priority on the agenda. While the department has increased access to higher education over the years, more could and should still be done, he adds.

“We would need to invest in skills development and training of our people, especially the youth. This is why my department has earmarked about R3.2 million for scarce skills areas for the financial years 2010/11 and 2011/12, and this is a start.”

Nzimande acknowledges the amount may not be enough to address the existing challenges, but says the department will strive to increase support over the next few years.

“SA continues to face challenges of skills shortage at different levels. The country bemoans shortage of science and technology graduates and other technically trained individuals. There is also concern over the number of engineers produced by our higher education institutions,” he adds.

Nzimande says government has identified further education and training (FET) colleges as critical centres to overcome the scarcity of technology graduates.

“The department has embarked upon a process of reconfiguration of FET colleges so that they become institutions of choice by many of our students, rather than being seen as what students settle for when they do not get admission into universities.”

It is the department's responsibility to expand options for young people in the post-schooling system, he notes. The merging of higher education Institutions, FET colleges, the skills sector and Sector Education and Training Authorities into a single department will address education and training in an integrated approach, he adds.

“The labour market should work in sync with us so that we are made aware of where we are lacking in terms of skills shortages; the quality of our graduates and in meeting the imperatives of transformation of our society.”

Nzimande adds that companies often complain about the mismatch between the skills or type of graduates that educational institutions produce, and the skills needed by the labour market. The problem is both the quantity and quality of graduates produced by institutions and the department would make a concerted effort to produce work-ready graduates, he notes.

“Indeed, many of our graduates tend to be inadequately prepared to make an immediate impact when they enter into the labour market. Companies report that they often find themselves having to put resources into further training in order to bring graduates to a required functional competence.”