The Minister of Higher Education and Training, Dr Blade Nzimande, MP, has gazetted the National Scarce Skills List: Top 100 Occupations in Demand and called for comments from all interested parties.
The White Paper for Post-School Education and Training posits that “if the provision of education and training is to be better coordinated with the needs of society and the economy, central information about skills needs is required”.
Furthermore, the Human Resource Development Strategy of South Africa 2010-2030 puts emphasis on the need for a national scarce skills list which is aligned to the country’s social and economic priority goals.
Information about scarce skills is therefore of vital importance for a number of reasons, particularly as it informs human resource planning and development; resource allocation and prioritisation; the development of relevant qualifications, programme and curricula; and international recruitment strategies. It also enables institutions of higher learning and other training providers to plan and channel resources towards programme offerings that are in demand.
The release of the National Scarce Skills List: Top 100 Occupations in Demand is a culmination of a number of processes. Firstly, there was agreement on the terms of reference for the compilation of the list. An Advisory Committee was constituted to provide inputs to the research. Research was conducted and employer association representatives were engaged. Draft findings were presented to the Advisory Committee. The review and revision of findings followed.
Minister Nzimande has now gazetted the list for public comment. The feedback and comments from interested parties will be factored into the final list that will be released later in the year.
Comments must be submitted in writing by no later than 20 June 2014, to:
The Director-General, Private Bag X174, Pretoria, 0001, for the attention of Ms Mmaphake Ramasodi, Telephone: 012 312 5345, Fax: 012 323 0991, E-mail: Ramasodi.M@dhet.gov.za
Media Enquiries:
Mr Vuyo Yekani
Media Liaison Officer
Ministry of Higher Education and Training
Cell: 0781110668
E-mail: Yekani.L@dhet.gov.za
