to increase numbers of placements of students in companies
17 May 2007
In congratulating the South African Institute for Chartered Accountants
(SAICA) on their 21 years of excellent work in community development Deputy
President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka called on the financial sector to assist with
increasing the numbers of graduates in South African companies and abroad. The
celebratory dinner was held last night, 16 May 2007, at the Sandton Convention
Centre in Johannesburg.
The Deputy President updated the gathering of chartered accounts on the
numbers of students placed with different companies and she said: "In the first
year of Joint Initiative for Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA), we have been
able to place 4 000 students with different companies and in my view this is a
small number for our context. I would like your help for us to significantly
increase the number this year of the young people that we can place."
"We have placed 760 students internationally and we do have quite a big
pipeline of those we are still looking into in order for us to be able to post
them to different parts of the world," said Mlambo-Ngcuka. The Deputy President
singled out KPMG and congratulated them on the excellent contribution they had
made to JIPSA and called on other companies in the auditing industry to follow
in their footsteps. KPMG placed 20 young women and they will be finishing a
year with them in a few months.
"I have been told that all of them are doing exceptionally well and they
have a bright future in the industry and many of those were young women who
besides their certificate had very little to show and KPMG put their faith in
them and risked and took them on board and they are looking for more. I would
like to urge other companies to follow in their foot steps," said the Deputy
President.
Mlambo-Ngcuka also called on other companies to come up with initiatives
like the SAICA's Thuthuka project if South Africa has to realise the goal of
addressing the skill development shortage especially when it comes to
youth.
"While on one end, we have a responsibility to work and invest in the
high-end of the skills continuum, we have to work together to make sure that
the almost six million young people in South Africa who are not likely to get a
job are supported; not unless you come with developmental programmes like the
Hope Factory, Thuthuka Bursary Fund. All of those people depend on you to give
them a break in life," she said.
The Deputy President also called on the Chartered Accountants and the nation
in general to support the Department of Education's adopting a school campaign
to uplift the standard of education in the country. "The Department of
Education has committed itself to a campaign in which you can all participate
which is an-adopt-a-school-campaign. This is where we are trying to get every
school in the country to be adopted by somebody who can work with the school to
make sure that the school meets its basic needs of teaching and learning and
the provision of basic facilities," said the Deputy President.
Mlambo-Ngcuka reported that South Africa has made significant progress and
that almost 100% has been reached in access to education by all children of
school going age. She sighted the improvement of the quality of the education
as a challenge and to make sure that the youth does not drop out of schools
especially at higher level grades "because if they drop out, in grade 8 or 9,
the investment that we would have made up till that point is actually lost.
Because it is that critical level at which you then have moved forward and it
would be possible to invest so that you are able to enhance the human capital,"
she said.
For more information contact:
Thabang Chiloane
Cell: 082 888 8783
Issued by: The Presidency
17 May 2007
