Sustainable economic development is now seen as the point of departure for all national strategic planning processes and has become a national priority in South Africa. Popular phrases such as ‘a knowledge-based economy” and ‘knowledge workers” are indicative of the massive changes that have taken place in the economies of developing and developed nations.
Sustainable economic development is dependent on, and is indeed fuelled by, bright, highly skilled people. It is important to note the use of the word ‘skilled” and not ‘qualified” to underline the needs of the economy. In a knowledge- or information-based economy, the increasing reliance on technology makes it imperative that undergraduates obtain the knowledge, skills and competencies required to live productive, economically self-sufficient, and civically responsible lives.
The newly established universities of technology (formerly technikons) differ from other universities as far as the primary focus of programmes is concerned. The ‘traditional” university for decades now has looked to peers to get a sense of how well they are doing, though they rarely share this information publicly.
By contrast, the universities of technology look towards current and future needs of commerce and industry to determine their benchmarks for effective educational practices and look towards knowledgeable people within the economy to assist them with curriculum and benchmarking exercises.
The worldwide focus on ‘development and industry”-standard benchmarks is one of the main reasons for the growth in popularity and status of universities of technology. In various national and international surveys concerning the employment needs of employers, factors such as self-confidence, ability to increase shareholder value, ability to work in a team, and technological literacy (computer skills, for example) came out as major priorities for suitable employees.
These factors have formed the basis of career-focused education of the technikons (now universities of technology) for many years and may be the main reason for the phenomenal growth in popularity of these institutions.
The need for employees with relevant knowledge and applicable skills are highlighted in the words of Arrie de Geus, former head of planning at Shell: ‘The only sustainable competitive advantage a corporation has is its ability to learn faster than its competition. Corporations must be able to capture and use the knowledge of its employees effectively.”
Dr Dénis van Rensburg is the CEO of the Committee of Technikon Principals
Education, employment and skills
The South African economy is undergoing gradual structural change. This change is largely the result of the dramatic political and social changes that have been occurring since the transition to democratic rule.
Some changes, however, can be attributed to more common factors that accompany the evolution of a ‘new” economy. The highly protected and insulated domestic economy of the 1980s is something of the past, and businesses are learning to compete globally in order to survive. Export opportunities have opened up and protective tariffs have been slashed, making the adoption of new technologies vital to South Africa’s remaining internationally competitive.
These economic changes have had a significant impact on the profile of the workforce, with an increase in the demand for highly skilled workers and a decline in the number of unskilled jobs.
There exist a double imbalance in the South African labour market with an oversupply of some skills and an undersupply of others. Despite there being 7,8-million unemployed people in South Africa (Stats SA 2002), the South African Institute of Race Relations reports that in 2001 South Africa had a shortage of between 350 000 and 500 000 people in the managerial and technical sectors.
Too few members of the South African workforce have the educational qualifications necessary to sustain high economic growth in the modern sector. According to the Labour Force Survey in February 2002, there were 928 000 people of working age with degrees, and a further 1 308 000 with post-secondary diplomas in South Africa in that month (Stats SA 2002).
This equates to only 8% of the working-age population falling into the high-level human resources category.
Significantly, the unemployment rate among those with degrees was less than 5%, in comparison with a rate of 46% among those with grade 11, and 32% among those with grade 12.
There are several international benchmarks that rank South Africa’s economic competitiveness and human development achievements with those of the rest of the world. They show that South Africa’s achievements in this regard have been uneven, as the following data demonstrate.
South Africa occupied 94th place out of 162 countries in the human development index in 2001, dropping to 107th place out of 173 countries in 2002. Factors contributing to this decline were low life-expectancy rates and the high percentage of adults living with HIV/Aids.
South Africa occupied 39th place out of 72 countries in the technology achievement index in 2001, coming in ahead of countries such as Brazil (43rd), China (44th), Algeria (58th), and Indonesia (60th). South Africa has been classified as a ‘dynamic adopter” along with countries such as Uruguay, Thailand, Brazil and India.
Excerpted from the Human Sciences Research Council’s report, Human Resources Development Review 2003: Education, Employment and Skills in South Africa