Programme Director
Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany, Mr Dieter Haller
President of the Southern African-German Chamber of Commerce of Industry, Mr Sven Moeller
Chief Executive of the Chamber Matthias Boddenberg
Guests, ladies and gentlemen,
Thank you very much for the invitation to address you today. We meet today soon after the South African-German Bi-National Commission meeting which was co-chaired by Deputy President Motlanthe and German Federal Vice hancellor Westwewelle. At a macro level the Bi-National Commission remains an expression of wide ranging and high level cooperation between our two countries. There are strategic imperatives that inform the relations including the fact that South Africa is one of Germany's most important partners in sub-Saharan Africa whilst Germany is one of the largest economies and a key research development funding country in Europe.
There is a steady flow of high evel visits between our two countries which continues to consolidate bilateral relations. Earlier this year, I was in Berlin at the invitation of the South African Ambassador to Germany to discuss skills development in South Africa and was honoured to meet my counterpart Minister Annette Schavan. We agreed on further strengthening cooperation between our two offices. As a follow up to this commitment, my department hosted a high-level delegation from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research led by Mr Volker Rieke, the Head of Directorate to European and International Cooperation in Education and Research.
It was agreed that a Joint Working Committee on Higher Education and Training within the framework of the Bi-National Commission be established. It was also agreed that further cooperation is needed in the area of vocational education. My department will be sending an expert group on a study tour to the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB), which provides advisory and research services, to observe best practice in the relevant areas.
During my visit to Germany, I indicated that I would value the opportunity to work with German companies in South Africa to strengthen vocational training in this country. I was most impressed by Germany's dual system of college and artisan training and believe this is a programme we can learn a lot from as a country.
The post-school learning system in this country is dominated by a public perception that opportunities for personal advancement can only be met through access to university. Diversity in post-school options must be increased and vocational colleges promoted as a viable and an attractive alternative. Linkages between formal vocational education and workplace opportunities a system which has been perfected in Germany must be strengthened in South Africa.
We plan to expand Further Education and Training (FET) colleges to be a significant locus of delivery of vocational and continuing education and training with strong links to industry in order to meet critical skill shortages. Expanding and improving capacity at FET colleges is a vital part of the mission to create a comprehensive and differentiated post school system in which universities and colleges are the key providers of the education and training needs. These institutions must produce the knowledge and skills South Africa needs.
I have looked forward to meeting you to hear your ideas about how training and skills development programmes along the lines of the dual system can be introduced in South Africa, and German companies can play an important role in the regard. There are also several existing projects that I believe we should strengthen. My department is in the process of developing a proposal that will be circulated to German member companies to extend the excellent work done by you in partnership with the Western Cape Education Department and a private company Blue Sky Consulting in the area of managing assessments in FET Colleges.
This partnership has developed a system and data base that not only strengthens assessment protocols in colleges, but also has the potential to be the IT base needed to implement the Pivotal Grant by matching college students with workplaces. A presentation was made to my director-general and she is actively pursuing how we can take this forward nationally.
I am also aware that your organisation has helped established and has been helping to run two training centres in Soweto, CATS (commercial) and Builders Training Centre (BTS) under the leadership of the Head of Training, Simon Mohale. My department is working on resolving the problems that have arisen as a result of the transition of the National Skills Fund (NSF) from the Department of Labour which has been extremely complex and difficult. We are extremely concerned about the impact on these training centres of the challenges with the indirect NSF funding modalities, but I am pleased to inform you that my department is urgently addressing the administrative and legal problems and will put into place mechanisms for the Institutes to be directly funded by the NSF.
This requires the promulgations of regulations governing the disbursement of funds from the NSF, but these problems will be solved, and officials from the department are working on this blockage as a matter of urgency. We want these centres to grow from strength to strength. They fulfil an important function which is entirely compatible with our vision, and we must work together to ensure they survive this transition. The centres will be invited to apply directly to the NSF for funding.
I am informed that some of your members are keen to hear progress in terms of our efforts to deal with the problems in the Construction SETA. As you are aware, f or a long while, there have been negative perceptions of some Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) which are central to our skills development and training programmes. I have taken the view that we need to deal with non-performance because it is only a few SETAs which create these negative impressions and detract from the excellent work done by many other SETAs.
You may be aware that I have sent letters to four SETAs, including the Construction SETA, indicating our intention to place them under administration and requesting their responses. This action followed repeated poor performance in all cases over a period of four years. We have now received the responses from the affected SETAs, and they are under consideration. I want to assure you that after careful consideration of their responses, we will act promptly so that functionality and effective governance is restored.
Ladies and gentlemen, you may be aware that since the establishment of the Ministry for Higher Education and Training last year, there has been a flurry of activity to produce far-reaching changes to improve the provision of post-school opportunities for especially the youth but also adults. There is a window of opportunity for crafting a system that provides a myriad of opportunities and to make a meaningful impact on the lives of individuals, the economy and society.
I urge you to partner us in the process of creating a system that responds to the social, economic and developmental needs of our country, particularly in the area of skills development. There are many areas where such collaboration can be explored. At this point I must confide that I was quite relieved that Bafana Bafana did not have to face off against the formidable German team during the World Cup so the strong relations between our two countries were not put to the test. However we welcome the formidable investment by the German government in youth development through soccer and look forward to these training programmes paying dividends for South Africa at future world cups.
Yesterday, we launched a Ministerial Flagship Programme on career guidance for high school learners in rural areas in tribute to our former president and icon, Nelson Mandela's commitment to education and youth development. We believe a high quality, integrated and responsive career guidance and information system will support the goals of the Department of Higher Education and Training, in relation to equity, access, success rates and overall development.
We would welcome an exchange of ideas in this regard. I believe there is a need to establish a database to fully reflect German investment in higher education and training sectors in South Africa. This would assist us to have a clearer picture of the extent of the German government's assistance across sectors. We warmly welcome the German government's decision to provide new funding of 1,5 million ero for Green Skills Jobs as well as to continue supporting the skills development agenda through a two million euro grant over three years.
On behalf of my department and the South African government, I want to express our appreciation for the continued support of the German government in our learning and training programmes. Given the scale of the skills challenge, we obviously would need to drastically expand our training programmes, particularly in the area of scarce skills. We therefore look forward to broadened cooperation with Germany in this crucial period in our country's history.
I thank you.
