Resource Development Strategy for Gauteng
26 September 2006
Programme director
MEC for Education Angie Motshekga
Other MECs
Representatives of labour
Business representative
Representatives for higher learning institutions
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Following the adoption of the provincial growth and development strategy
last year, together with stakeholders we committed ourselves to:
* identify sectors and areas of economic potential that will make it possible
for the Gauteng economy to grow at a rate of 8% per annum
* contribute to the national goal of halving poverty and unemployment by
2014
* increase the participation of women and youth in the productive sector of the
economy
* pay particular attention to the growing of small, medium and micro
enterprises and cooperatives
* provide financial and non financial support to small medium micro enterprises
(SMMEs) especially those that focus on job creation and wealth creation amongst
women and youth
* increase the percentage of broad-based black economic empowerment (BBBEE)
business that we procure our goods
* invest in the provision of social and economic infrastructure including those
required for a successful Federation International Football Association (FIFA)
world cup
* reduce the cost of doing business in the province by cutting unnecessary red
tape, while strengthening worker rights
* strengthen the different roles of the public and private sectors in economic
activity.
Since then we have launched the process to consolidate and strengthen the
Gauteng province as a globally competitive city region. This process has seen
the leadership of local and provincial government consulting widely on what all
of us need to do to ensure that our objective to make Gauteng a globally
competitive region bears fruit.
During the launch of the GCR at the Gauteng legislature we said that, "One
of the most pressing challenges facing the Gauteng city region is the
development of the necessary skills to drive economic growth and social
transformation. This requires effective early childhood development and general
education as well as at the level of our institutions of higher learning and
our Further Education and Training (FET) institutions. These are critical
components in skilling our people, in giving them access to quality jobs and in
generating further economic development.
I am pleased to announce that we have completed the development of a
comprehensive Human Resource Development Strategy for the province as a whole
and will be launching it in September. The private sector will be a crucial
partner in the successful implementation of the HRD strategy to address skills
shortages in the economy. The strategy will also pay attention to skills needs
in the public sector, including in the areas of engineering and project
management and in accelerating social delivery.
We have created an Early Childhood Development Institute which will ensure
an integrated approach in this critical area where the basis for the future
development of our children is laid.
Another flagship project will be the creation of a city region observatory
with institutions of higher learning. We have already started working closely
with Wits University and will in the near future draw on the knowledge and
expertise of other institutions of higher learning in strengthening the Gauteng
city region."
In all meetings discussing various strategies growth and development, Global
City Region (GCR), social development strategies, the one issue that has stood
out as a necessity if we are to succeed as a country and province is to move
with speed to address the need for a skilled and productive workforce.
Recently the Mail and Guardian published a report which indicated that "50
percent of South Africaâs undergraduate students fail to complete their degrees
with money and poor schooling seen as the main causes. And only 30 percent
obtain their qualifications within five years of enrolling as first year
students."
At the same time we know that despite the best endeavours by labour,
business and government, the sector education and training authorities (SETA)
have failed to respond adequately to the challenge of skills development.
As part of the implementation of Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative
for South Africa (AsgiSA), Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition
(JIPSA) has been set up to look at means and ways to accelerate the development
of the requisite skills to ensure accelerated and shared economic growth.
All of these points to the dearth of certain skills in our country and
Gauteng despite its many institutions of higher learning and further education
training institutions are no exception. To transform Gauteng into a globally
competitive city region, we have to deal with this challenge. If we deal with
it successfully we will be able to provide a quality supply of skills for key
economic and social sectors, to move the economy up the productive value chain,
to promote shared growth through building social capital and expanding the
opportunities available to the poor.
That is the reason the Human Resource Development strategy we are launching
today is so significant. While the Gauteng HRD strategy is a government
strategy, it is not aimed at addressing the needs of the public sector alone,
but of all stakeholders in the public and private sectors, the social sector as
well as those of small micro and medium enterprises.
In developing this strategy we have taken into account a number of
socio-economic factors which we will need to address to grow the economy, to
build Gauteng as a competitive city region and to effectively contribute
towards the objectives of halving poverty and unemployment by 2014.
These factors include the reality that key sectors of our economy are
experiencing critical skills shortages and gaps; unemployment in the province
is disproportionately concentrated amongst the youth, women and those with
Grades 8 - 12 education, the number of people living below the poverty line has
been steadily increasing. We continue to hear of the unemployed graduates even
as many jobs are available.
Yet according to the Gauteng Business Barometer, âthe number of jobs ads per
month in Gauteng newspapers increased from 47 thousand centimetres per month in
2002 to 67 thousand centimetres per month for the last twelve months. This is
an increase of 42,5% over the last few years.â
Gauteng is estimated to have around 40% of all job ads in the country well
above to its contribution to GDP of 33%. Yet we have graduates who can not find
employment!
Many of Gautengâs poor have turned to the second economy which constitutes
47 percent of economically active persons in the province. And despite
education levels of the Gauteng population being generally higher than the
national average, the quality and efficiency of the education system needs to
be addressed.
The human resource development strategy is based on five key success factors
which we must focus on to develop employable, entrepreneurial and smart
people.
Firstly, we have to accelerate improvements in the education foundation: To
do this we will need to focus on early childhood development, the school system
as well as adult basic education and training. Together with parents and
teacher unions, we should work very hard to ensure that 155 000 children aged
between five and six years should be enrolled in grade R by 2010 accompanied by
the training and education of quality early childhood practitioners. The early
childhood institute, which we will be opening later this week, will assist us
to achieve this target.
To improve the quality of our school system we will focus on increasing the
number of school leavers with matric exemption in maths, science and technology
while ensuring that generic skills in language and literacy are substantially
improved.
To achieve this we have to meet the following targets:
* Ensure that all schools have access to computers by 2009.
* Increase the utilisation of community libraries by school pupils.
* Increase the ratio of university endorsements from 23% in 2004 to 28% by
2010.
* Improve the quality of educators, particularly in maths and science.
Educators are the central pillar to human resource development and we have to
pay very close attention to the kind of training that they receive and the
knowledge that they impart to children because as Henry Brooks Adams once said
"A teacher affects eternity, he can never tell where his influence stops".
We will also have to address the continuing rise in teacher-pupil ratio and
over crowding brought mainly by growing in migration and rapid
urbanisation.
For adult basic education and training to contribute to attaining the goals
of the HRD strategy we have to train 233 000 adults in basic literacy every
year until 2010. The Gauteng Department of Education will need to build
partnerships with industry to improve the effectiveness and utilisation of its
Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) educators and Adult Learning Centres.
Together with the Gauteng Youth Commission we need to explore how we can
mobilise young unemployed graduates to assist as part of the expanded public
works programme.
Secondly, we have to create a skilled, adaptable and employable workforce.
This will require that we focus on skills for the Gauteng Economy and Skills
for Key Social Sectors. We will have to raise the employability of new labour
market entrants, improve the quality and relevance of skills provided by
Further Education and Training colleges and Universities of Technology, improve
employer participation in skills development and increase the number and
quality of enrolments and graduations in universities.
Thirdly, we have to support the eradication of poverty and unemployment.
This will be achieved by developing the capacity to deliver high quality
training for the unemployed, promoting training for employment in labour
intensive industries, supporting training for those employed in Expanded Public
Works Programme (EPWP), focussing on re-skilling of retrenched workers through
social plan initiatives and providing training support for unemployed youth
through training for small, micro and survivalist enterprises.
Fourthly, we have to expand the "national system of innovation" within the
province. In this regard our strategy will focus on aligning human development
initiatives to support an innovation hub in Gauteng and benchmark innovation
progress against key "knowledge economy" measures and scorecards.
Finally, we have to develop the capacity of Gauteng provincial government to
drive HRD and skills development. In this context we will focus on improving
governmentâs ability to facilitate and co-ordinate the development and
implementation of HRD initiatives within the province, building a strong,
dedicated stakeholder management capability, improve our HRD planning and
information management capabilities and improving the governmentâs ability to
effectively address its own overall skills needs as well as contribute to
poverty reduction and job creation.
Whilst each of these five success factors contains elements that we can
implement quickly and achieve short-term success, their full impact will mostly
be felt in the medium to long-term.
To achieve high impact we will zoom in on three key strategic interventions.
We will have to fast track training in areas of scarce skills. A joint accord
with Organised Business and Higher Education Institutions will be established
under the auspices of the Gauteng Skills Partnership to secure their buy-in and
finalise priority sectors. Potential sectors include engineering, Information
and Communication Technology (ICT), public management, financial services and
manufacturing. This should in turn make it possible for us to have a better
link and working relations with JIPSA.
Secondly, we will build a bridge between the first and second economy by
partnering business with FET colleges, the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller and
Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA) to provide training and business
development support to SMMEs as well as to establish incubation programmes and
supplier development parks. The irony though is that the majority of students
in Gauteng FET colleges are from outside of the province.
Thirdly, we will leverage the competitive advantage of the high number of
multi-national companies in Gauteng such as SAB, Old Mutual, Anglo American,
Barclays and Coca-Cola, etc, to maximise technology transfers through knowledge
sharing, exchanges and shoulder-to-shoulder support.
The execution of the HRD strategy will be guided by strong partnerships and
collaboration, the involvement of key decision makers from business, labour;
Setaâs and key education and training providers in the province.
I call upon all of you to join hands with us in turning around the skills
deficit. No government, municipalities or enterprise will succeed without us
sorting out the skills deficit. While it is easy to focus on institutions of
higher learning and FETs, more attention should be paid to on the job training
by companies and parastatals. After all it is far easier to train someone who
is already working for you than a newly employed worker.
I thank you.
Issued by: Gauteng Provincial Government
26 September 2006
