The Human Resource Development Council of South Africa (HRDCSA) on Thursday, 18 April 2013, met in its 10th meeting. The meeting was held at the Orlando Communal Hall in Soweto in the Gauteng province, as part of taking the HRDCSA to the people.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe chaired the meeting that was attended by ministers, representatives of business, labour, academic, civil society sectors as well as the Chairpersons of the HRDCSA Technical Task Teams.
Top of the agenda was the tabling of a revised National Integrated Human Resource Development Plan by Higher Education and Training Minister Blade Nzimande and a presentation by the Public Service and Administration Minister Lindiwe Sisulu titled "Achieving a Skilled and Capable Workforce for an Efficient, Effective, Professional and Development-Oriented State: A Coordinated Approach.”
The meeting has today approved the plan as a working document to be subjected to continuous review and update to ensure relevance. This plan provides a guide in terms of what work needs to be done by Council in the next 3 to 5 years. The strategic goals of the plan include:
- universal access to quality foundational learning,
- expanded access to the post-schooling system,
- capable public sector with effective and efficient planning and implementation capabilities
- production of appropriately skilled people for the economy and
- improved technological innovation and outcomes.
The next step will be a consultative process with key stakeholders to confirm numerical Targets, where necessary, and to get commitments from implementing agents.
The preceding meeting also saw a need for the development of a coordinated response to public sector skills, including at local government level; and a response on how skills development will contribute to building an efficient state and address service delivery challenges.
Minister Sisulu was requested in this meeting to convene the public service sector cluster and the Department of Higher Education and Training to look into this matter.
Minister Sisulu's presentation, in response to the mandate from HRDCSA's previous meeting, was accepted by the meeting and it focused on among others:
- the revision of the State of training in the public service to establish basic return on investment.
- the coordination of Public Service Skills Efforts
- skills development requirements and how they will be delivered.
She reported that the Public Service Skills Committee has now been established with a scope that is reflective of a single public service (including the local government).
The meeting was held for the first time in Soweto in line with the objective of taking government closer to the people. The next meeting will take place on 14 June 2013 at a FET collage that is still to be identified.
