Minister of Labour Membathisi Mdladlana said on Monday he and Minister of Education Naledi Pandor will soon meet to discuss ways to refocus South Africa’s technikons and universities.
The drop-out rate of black students at these institutions is of concern to the government as it increases the number of unskilled workers in the country, Mdladlana said.
”We have to overhaul the system and make it function better,” he said at the launch of the Isett Sector Education Training Authority (Seta) in Midrand.
The Isett Seta is the Seta for the information and communications technology (ICT) industry.
Mdladlana said a senior official from the University of the Witwatersrand told him the number of black engineering students accepted to the university each year as well as how many drop out annually.
Most of them drop out because of a lack of funds, the official said.
”We cannot have people drop out of school. That is dangerous for any country to have so many young people unemployed,” he said.
”Something has to be done. We agreed that we must meet and discuss this matter.”
The programme Mdladlana launched on Monday will benefit 128 young people from the Isett Seta learnership programme.
Cellphone company Vodacom will spend about R3-million on the programme.
The people will learn from programmes such as new-venture creation, contact-centre support, telecoms technology, information technology (IT) systems development and project management.
”These learnerships clearly demonstrate the possibilities that can arise out of a well-coordinated private-public sector partnership,” said Vodacom group deputy CEO Andrew Mthembu.
”After successful completion, participants come out equipped with the requisite practical and entrepreneurial skills that are greatly needed by the country.”
He said the new-venture creation programme is aimed at training the participants to start and run a successful business.
The contact-centre support is tailored in such a way that it will develop customer service skills, and the IT systems development addresses the core areas of competence of the ICT sector, Mthembu said.
Mdladlana said the programme is testimony to the commitment the government made at last year’s presidential Growth and Development Summit.
”As a collective, we must deliver on the scarce skills in the country,” he said.
Some of the participants, their mentors, the Vodacom staff and Oupa Mopaki, the CEO of the Isett Seta, attended the event. — Sapa