Links between education and the rest of the economy are seldom explicitly addressed in education planning and finance, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said on Monday.
Opening the 16th Commonwealth Conference of Education Ministers in Cape Town, he said it is broadly understood that economic development relies on skills, knowledge and expertise, and that education contributes to generating these.
”But we don’t have much confidence in formal skills-development plans any more. What used to be called ‘manpower requirements planning’ has largely been discredited as an approach to social and economic development.”
Manuel said many understand that education has collective ”public good” characteristics, so it is largely financed and organised by governments rather than the business sector.
”But there are also important contributions of non-governmental organisations and enterprises to the education and training industry, and the interaction between government and private-sector activities and responsibilities are complex and vary from one country to another.”
Manuel said faster economic growth in South Africa in the past five years has highlighted the country’s skills shortages and the need to recruit and train larger numbers of engineers and city planners and accountants.
”But faster economic growth also generates a whole lot more activity, industrial capacity building, technology replacement and organisational renewal that in turn stimulate learning opportunities and increase the reward to skills acquisition.”
Manuel said the resultant rapid demand for skills has contributed to rapidly rising remuneration in skilled and professional occupations associated with widening earnings inequality in many countries. — Sapa