The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) held a briefing on the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics, Agriculture, and Coding (STEAMAC) subjects offered in schools.
The department says these subjects are very important as they relate to the jobs that are currently in demand in the country. They have identified five economic sectors that have great potential to accelerate growth and job creation within the Western Cape province.
These were tourism, oil and gas, agri-processing, energy and security, and information and communication technology (ICT).
The department said that their long-term goal was to increase the amount of learners who are enrolled in technical, agricultural and vocational education. They aim to double the number of learners enrolled in the technical and agricultural stream between 2020 and 2024.
Mr F Christians from the African Christians Democratic Political Party (ACDP) said that there wasn't enough space for learners to get into technical schools and wanted to know how the department was managing this.
The department said that they would be supporting the refurbishment of schools that had the potential to offer technical subjects and the provision of the necessary human resources.
Some of the challenges in communities are that learners are unable to access certain subjects because they are not offered in their schools and learners are also uncertain about their long-term career choices and feel as though there is no purpose in going to school.
The WCED engaged in an extensive amount of career guidance, however their data confirmed that there were a lot of learners who were unsure of what they wanted to do as a career.
The department feels that the General Education Certificate (GEC) will assist because it has an assessment which allows the education system to communicate the talents and skills of learners and guides them towards a career path using this information.
The GEC which will be given to Grade 9 learners and is expected to address the current issue of young learners who leave the education system each year without any national qualification, thus making it difficult for them to find jobs.
The WCED said that through spatial planning, schools in certain districts were repositioned so that they could have access to programmes which are based on learners' interests, aptitude profiles and future aspirations.
