We are going to be hlaseling poverty and illiteracy, Premier Ace Magashule said in his youthfully self as he addressed a crowd of learners during the launch of the provincial skills development forum in Welkom on Tuesday 3 September.
According to Magashule, the forum, amongst other things, has been established to strategically provide advice on skills development for the unemployed, job creation projects, learnerships, etc. Made up of representatives from government departments, organised labour, business, all Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) and organisations representing the interests of designated groups such as youth, women and people with disabilities, the forum now resides in the Office of the Premier and no longer with the Department of Labour. “In the next five years, as the Free State government, we must feel that we are doing things differently eradicating poverty and illiteracy,” Magashule said.
“I want this forum to work and be strategic in the way they operate,” for human resource development purposes within the province. However Magashule, highlighted that in order for our communities to come out of poverty and illiteracy, learners need to take education seriously and must not allow themselves to be negatively influenced by peers.
Reiterating his point Magashule said, “When you are educated, logic becomes something easy in ones daily life.” In sharing Magashule’s sentiments, MEC of Education, Tate Makgoe said, people power is the most important thing to country should have. “As the Free State, we want to be counted as one of the best provinces in the country and the rest of the world by investing in our people.” Makgoe went on to encourage matriculates and those who have completed school and have no funding to apply for bursaries before the closing date end of September.
Issued by: Department of Education, Free State Provincial Government
3 September 2009
Source: Department of Education, Free State Provincial Government (http://www.fs.gov.za/)
