Address by Minister of Higher Education and Training Dr Blade Nzimande at the Thabo Mbeki Development Trust for Disabled People and W&RSETA certification ceremony, Pyramid Conference Centre

I am delighted to address this special event which will see 44 people with disabilities proudly enter the mainstream economy after graduating through the learnership programme of the Thabo Mbeki Development Trust for Disabled People (TMDT) and the Wholesale and Retail Sector Education and Training authority (W&RSETA).

Let me at the outset congratulate all those receiving certificates today for your tremendous achievement and for your determination to be skilled and economically active. We are all here to honour you as the first group of disabled learners to progress from basic literacy and numeracy to attaining the skills to perform jobs in sales, marketing and call centre work.

You have set a wonderful example for others who are disabled, as well as the able-bodied, showing that education and skills development are essential to personal growth and better work opportunities.

It is worrying that 70 percent of disabled people in South Africa are unskilled and therefore have limited chances to earn a living. It is for this reason that many disabled people who are not supported by family and friends, live in poverty and are forced to become beggars. This is a real tragedy as it is clear from what we are witnessing today that by learning a skill and through basic literacy and training, disabled people in our communities can by fully integrated into the mainstream economy.

I must therefore commend the work of the Thabo Mbeki Development Trust and the W&RSETA for embarking on this programme to provide this essential training to people with disabilities. We must also congratulate the service provider Aboutlearning for the on the ground training in this project. The fact that 94 percent of the learners on the programme have found employment bears testimony to its quality and effectiveness.

The big companies in the wholesale and retail sector such as Makro, Game, Builders Warehouse, Jumbo and the Smollan Group must be applauded for taking the lead and employing people with disabilities and making great efforts to accommodate their special needs in their places of work. I encourage them to continue to expand opportunities for the disabilities and to support them in performing their jobs.

We need to be honest that as a country we are not doing nearly enough to cater for the needs of the disabled and to make sure that they do not face any discrimination particularly in the workplace.

It is for this reason that we in the Department of Higher Education and Training are striving to ensure that all the work of our department is underscored by addressing six key interrelated issues, class, race, age and gender, as well as HIV and AIDS and disability. This means that these issues guide development and implementation of all programmes of the department, particularly those aimed at strengthening the skills and human resource base of the country.

Since the department was created, we have made our intentions clear about creating an integrated but differentiated post schooling system which incorporates universities, colleges and training authorities. It is important that this seamless system embraces the diversity and distinct needs of our society and must fight against all forms of discrimination and prejudices, whether based on race, class, gender, age or against people with AIDS and disability.

The National Skills Development Strategy (NSDS) is the overarching strategic instrument for skills development and guides sector planning. Among the targets of the NSDS II currently being implemented seeks to achieve are:

• To supporting economic growth for employment growth and poverty eradication
  
• To promote productive citizenship for all by aligning skills development with national strategies for growth and development
  
• Accelerate Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment and Employment Equity. Equity targets are 85 percent black, 54 percent women and four percent people with disabilities including youth in all categories. Learners with disabilities are to be provided with reasonable accommodation such as assistive devices and access to learning and training material to enable them to have access to and participate in skills development
  
• To support, monitor and evaluate the delivery and quality assurance systems necessary for the implementation of the NSDS
  
• To advance a culture of excellence in skills development and lifelong learning

It is a great tragedy that as a country and with the evolution of our skills development system we have struggled to ensure sufficient participation by people with disabilities in training initiatives to be able to meet the four percent target set by the NSDS. The NSDS Implementation Report for the 2008 to 2009 year shows that the number of people with disabilities entering and completing skills development programmes decreased by one percent.

The reasons given vary from facilities in workplaces and training sites being unable to accommodate the disabled to insufficient trainers/instructors with the skills and know-how to deal with people with disabilities. Thus for reasons that have nothing to do with policy choices of the government or resources, our skills system continued to marginalise people with disabilities. This has to change.

Based on the finding of the NSDS II Implementation Report, the National Skills Authority has recommended that there should be increased efforts towards recruiting people with disabilities into learning programmes and that the assistance of social and community organisations should be sought in this regard. In my view, it is also important that adult education and training be broadened to cater for the needs of the disabled.

The Thabo Mbeki Development Trust and W&RSETA programme, under whose banner we are gathered here today, is one of the projects that has ventured into and found possible solutions to the challenges I have just indicated. This project provides us with useful and valuable lessons and demonstrates that with determination, will and cooperation it is possible to overcome some of the challenges limiting the participation of the disabled in skills development.

This programme therefore needs to be expanded to all provinces and particularly in rural areas where the disabled face overwhelming problems and as a result are sometimes maligned by their communities. Programmes such as these also demonstrate that social grants are not the only answer for the disabled. We need to promote greater awareness that people with disabilities do have many abilities which must be harnessed for their own personal development and for the greater good of society.

The work of the W&RSETA with the disabled has been groundbreaking and should be emulated by the other Sector Education Training Authorities (SETAs) as they pursue their skills development targets. In addition to this project the W&RSETA has spent in excess of R4 million on projects for the disabled in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape. I urge you to expand these programmes to other provinces. In order to do this it is also important that we engage the provincial skills development forums so that they mainstream the training of the disabled into their programmes.

Promoting skills development and economic activity for the disabled is not only about meeting targets. It’s about the betterment of our society and helping more people escape the poverty trap.

The NDSD III which I have released for public comment does not set numerical equity targets. I will be interested to find out from the public comment process what the feeling is of employers, labour, training authorities and stakeholders on the issue of equity targets. I strongly believe that equity targets are necessary, albeit inadequate as these must be accompanied by the quality of training given.

I urge stakeholders such as the Thabo Mbeki Development Trust which has provided essential leadership in this sector and has championed the cause of the disabled to actively participate in discussions that will shape the work of our department.

We must also support the work of the Ministry of Women, Children and People with Disabilities to promote the rights and welfare of the disabled.

Let me once again congratulate the learners graduating today and wish you well in your careers. I look forward to hearing about your progress in your places of employment and doing more to upgrade your skills. You must remember that learning is a life-long process. Whilst today you have achieved a lot, this is just but one milestone in a number of other milestones that you are capable of achieving.

I thank you.

Enquiries:
Ranjeni Munusamy
Tel: 012 312 5555 or 021 465 5513
Cell: 072 571 2812
E-mail: munusamy.r@dhet.gov.za