Skilled artisans have been in short supply across the globe and in South Africa. Therefore, the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) has embarked on a massive programme to train and employ more artisans in the country.
The department’s goal is to produce 30,000 artisans in South Africa per annum by 2030.
Representing Minister Blade Nzimande at a recent parliamentary meeting, Minister of Employment and Labour Thulas Nxesi affirmed that there was no shortage of government money for training young people, what was lacking was the integration and coordination of these programmes.
When you looked at what the SETAs and the Department of Employment and Labour were getting from UIF, you would see a lot of duplication of training programmes. People were running away with millions, which was a joke.
He stressed “After a few months of training, those young people had nowhere to go.” Nxesi says that if the department could come up with integrated programmes, it would be able to maximise the resources.
The minister noted the department has been working on a programme in partnership with institutions and private businesses to maximise resources for unemployed young people.
However, several problems occurred due to government systems and time frames. “What you could do in a month in the private sector would take government a year.”
Skills Development Plans For 2023/24
Whilst being mindful of the expenditures, the department plans to put additional controls in place to address the inefficiencies within the sector.
Nxesi stressed that artisan development remained a key priority and, in that regard, there was a plan to train 30,000 students in TVET colleges in the field.
Learners in skilled development programmes would also increase, as the department intended to continue the partnership with industries to develop skills needed in the different economic sectors.
He noted, “TVET colleges would be useless without the support of those industries. Those were the practical skills that we needed.”
Notwithstanding the challenges it faces, the Department would continue to support young people, for instance, the plan to increase enrolment of students in CET institutions from 439 659 in 2023/24 to 559 884 in 2024/25.
Furthermore, the department was finalising concept designs for constructing two universities in Ekurhuleni and Hammanskraal. One focusing specifically on teaching science and innovation subjects and the other is set to focus on crime detection.
Nxesi says that student accommodation developments would also take place in those areas as well as satellite campuses.
New University Infrastructure
South Africa may soon have two new universities, according to the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET). The two higher learning institutes, however, are intended to address the country's persistent skills shortage.
Although these two universities are still within the planning stages, Minister of Higher Education, Blade Nzimande, says that South Africa can expect these institutions to be finalised in the next 1 - 1.5 years.
They also aim to improve the student accommodation capacity in the country. This is being done through the Student Housing Infrastructure Programme (SHIP).
SHIP seeks to provide 200,000 beds at South Africa’s 26 public universities and 100,000 beds at the country’s 50 Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges over the next decade.
The minister explained that many universities and TVET colleges have not been able to make sufficient investments in the maintenance and expansion of their student housing portfolios. This was primarily due to financial constraints.
Nzimande says the SHIP project will assist these institutions, which will ensure quality teaching and learning and a conducive student living and learning environment. He continued to say that the department will prioritise infrastructure development at previously disadvantaged universities.
They believe this will ensure maintenance backlogs are addressed and the quality delivery management is improved at these institutions.
