Address at the Education, Training and Development Practices (ETDP) Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETA) Fourth National Conference by Mrs Angie Motshekga, Minister of Basic Education

Chairperson, Mr George Mudumela
CEO of the ETDP SETA, Mrs Nombulelo Nxesi
Chairperson of ETDP SETA, Ms Simoné Geyer
Esteemed delegates
and distinguished guests,

Thank you to the leadership of the Education, Training and Development Practices (ETDP) Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETA) for making it possible for us to attend and address the fourth National Conference of the SETA.

The theme you have chosen, that is, “Developing a skilled and capable workforce in the ETD Sector for an inclusive growth path”, serves to remind us of the pivotal role this sector must play better to contribute to the trajectory of an inclusive growth that must help us eradicate poverty and inequality.

Working in partnership, our direction must be guided by the reality many have come to acknowledge since the promulgation of the Skills Development Act and the inception of Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs).

Within the framework of the national skills development strategy, SETAs, including the ETDP SETA, still has a critical role of contributing to the production of a properly skilled workforce.

Through quality skills development and training programmes, they must help us to raise the skills levels of the workers. At the same time, they must continue to assist in creating work and training opportunities for the unemployed, particularly the youth.

This way, we can best expand access to opportunities for all our people. This way, we can ensure that all our people, including the poorest of the poor, indeed have a share in the country’s wealth as we say in the Freedom Charter.

Conscious empowerment of the people is a prerequisite for progress and a better quality of life. As Prof Ben Turok has reminded us in another context, “wealth doesn’t trickle down”. And therefore, we cannot depend on “trickle down” to create a more just and equal society (New Agenda 2008: 159).

The mission of the ETDP SETA must be to help the Education, Training and Development (ETD) Sector and the democratic state in promoting “the right and duty of all to work”, as we say in the Freedom Charter. Going by the composition of this conference, with about 400 constituencies and stakeholders, I am certain the forth conference will do just that.

Our acid test of course is how the ETD Sector responds to the new SETA landscape heralded by the new National Skills Development Strategy III (NSDS). We are further challenged by government’s prioritisation of job creation.   

Government has declared 2011“a year of job creation through meaningful economic transformation and inclusive growth”. This call, as made by President Jacob Zuma on the occasion of the 2011 Opening of Parliament, highlighted the central role of job creation in building a better life for all. He said and I quote:

“We have introduced a New Growth Path that will guide our work in achieving [our] goals, working within the premise that the creation of decent work is at the centre of our economic policies.

We urge every sector and every business entity, regardless of size, to focus on job creation. Every contribution counts in this national effort.”

Going-forward, this statement should guide our strategic direction as a sector and influence the content of our skills plan and various training programmes.

This national imperative around the creation of decent work as well as the NSDS III that was announced by Minister Nzimande in January 2011, should aid the fourth Conference constructively and effectively to chart a way-forward.

And this is how I can best respond to one part of the question that I have been asked to address, that is, “what should be the focus of the ETD Sector in the next five years? This is it!

Looking back, the ETDP SETA has registered remarkable progress in building capacity within the sector.

It has contributed immensely to the country’s human resources development, as well as to our economy.

The ETDP SETA Annual Report 2009/10 says the target of the SETA for the period was to assist 1,795 unemployed people to enter into learning programmes and to give them skills that would enable them to enter the job market.

By 2 March 2010, 416 unemployed people, mainly black youth, had entered the learning programmes, exceeding the target by 135%.

Upon completion, these young people would have the requisite skills enabling them to enter the job market.

On the matter of “quality teaching and learning”, the Department of Basic Education has a pivotal role to play.

In Strategy and Tactics of the ANC, a discussion document of the 2007 National Conference, the ruling party says correctly that a comprehensive human development strategy should include and focus on:

“The improvement of the general education system; intensification of education in mathematics and natural sciences; promotion of social sciences that help build social cohesion. Expansion of the nation’s artisanship base; improving throughput and research in universities; and an effective adult basic education programme.”

Improving the general education system is very critical in that it is here that the young are nurtured and humanised for future roles in society, be it as part of the workplace or as self-employed entrepreneurs.

It is in this area that we must begin to respond to the legitimate concerns raised by many on a matter that has been characterised, also by this Conference, as the “skills mismatch, which is a recipe for joblessness”.

The impact of this mismatch was noted by Prof Haroon Bhorat, Director of the Development Policy Research Unit at the University of Cape Town, in “Skills mismatch crisis: Can we stem the tide”, which appeared in New Age in 2008.

According to Bhorat, approximately 240 000 individuals with some form of post-schooling training were unemployed in 2005 and that the graduate unemployment rate in the same year stood at 10.5% – a rate higher than most national unemployment rates in comparable middle-income countries.

It has also been established in various studies that our country is currently faced with critical shortages in key areas like Mathematics, Accounting, Science and Technology. This is reflected, inter alia, in the low levels of learner achievement in these gateway subjects. Evidence also shows that we have to address achievement levels in literacy and numeracy.

We believe the basic dimensions of quality education should include processes through which well-trained teachers use child-centred teaching approaches in well-managed classrooms and schools and skilful assessment to facilitate learning and reduce disparities.

We would have improved the quality of the education system and would have made inroads in addressing the skills mismatch if we were to succeed in strengthening the capacities of children to act progressively through the acquisition of relevant knowledge, useful skills and appropriate attitudes.

As the President confirmed in the 2011 State of the Nation Address, in spite of our challenges, “we are making a difference in education, as evidenced by the significant increase in the matric pass rate last year, and the interest displayed by the youth in education around the country”.

The pass rate for 2010 as you know was 67.8%, an impressive increase of 7.2% on the 2009 results.

To build on our achievements, we have taken decisive steps to improve the quality of teaching and learning. In August 2010, we gazetted an education sector based plan: Action Plan to 2014: Towards the Realisation of Schooling 2025.

It is through this plan, which is our “blueprint for change”, that we intend to turnaround education in this country.

We have made a commitment to the nation that we will work together to improve the performance of the school education system. In this regard, we have signed a delivery agreement with The President that commits every one of us, Department of Basic Education (DBE) officials, Provincial MECs, Education Labour Relations Council, South African Council for Educators, the ETDP SETA and others, to work towards improving the quality of basic education. 

Last week, we took a great leap towards achieving quality teaching and learning when we launched the National Education Evaluation and Development Unit (NEEDU). This is a new evaluation agency that will play a key role in improving the quality of education in our country.

NEEDU will have the authority to conduct the monitoring and evaluation of schools, districts, provinces and the national department. We will provide further details on NEEDU when we table our Budget Vote Speech in Parliament on 13 April 2011.

All our strategies and tactics will stand or fall on the quality of teachers we have in our schools.

Indeed the teacher is at the centre of improving the quality of teaching and learning. Without a qualified, properly-trained and dedicated teacher, the goal of developing a skilled and capable workforce will become a fleeting illusion.

This is precisely what informed the President’s statement that “the focus in basic education this year is Triple T: Teachers, Textbooks and Time”, and that “teachers must be at school, in class, on time, teaching for at least seven hours a day”.

Our mandate is to give effect to every child’s right to education. This obligation compels us to ensure our learners are provided with teachers that are highly skilled and knowledgeable in order to improve the children’s chances of success.

As the DBE, we view the ETDP SETA as a key partner in addressing the formidable challenges on our way to quality teaching and learning.

Areas that you have prioritised in the sector skills plan, including Early Childhood Development Practitioners, Maths, Science and Technology, are critical areas that will bring about significant improvement.

Also, the primary focus of your skills programmes, particularly the programmes on mentoring and coaching as well as training on material and curriculum development, will go a long way towards empowering our school management teams.

We endeavour always to improve the role we play in the sector and to remain a key constituent member of the ETDP SETA.

The Annual Training Reports for the 2009/10 cycle show that as the DBE and provinces, we have invested R714 240 195 towards the development of our teachers. This investment will have a significant impact on improving the quality of teaching and learning.

I am confident that the much-awaited resolutions of the fourth conference of the ETDP SETA will further strengthen our capacity as a sector to support the Republic in developing a skilled and capable workforce for an inclusive growth path.

Allow me to wish you well in the remaining sessions and to congratulate you for hosting such a successful national conference.

Working together we can improve the efficiency, quality and impact of education, skills development and training. Together we can stem the tide!

I thank you.

Source: Department of Basic Education  

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