After the COVID-19 pandemic, South Africa is currently focused on implementing a Skills Strategy for Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan post-COVID-19, said Dr Blade Nzimande, the Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation.
The Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP) has pinned its hopes on the Communications and Digital Economy as critical enablers in growing an inclusive economy. “In our Skills Strategy to support the ERRP, we have identified several Digital Skills Gaps in the Digital Economy both short to long term, such as Cloud Architecture; Cybersecurity; Data Centre Operations; Enterprise Architecture Development; Network Analysis, Control and Security; Block Chain; Data Science; Internet of Things; Machine Learning; Robotic Automation and so on,” the Minister said.
Speaking at the Huawei ICT Talent Development Annual Awards Ceremony in Woodmead, Johannesburg, on Monday, Nzimande said youth unemployment, especially for young people between the ages of 15 to 24 years old, remains high at 61%, was currently the pressing challenge. More than 3.6 million of the same cohort are not in employment or education and training (NEET).
The Minister said he was happy to learn that Huawei South Africa has established 72 academies with 32 Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) colleges registering for training and development, including certification in ICT and digital skills development.
Almost 5 000 students have benefited from the training so far. However, Huawei, a Chinese firm, should not be addressing the country’s skills challenges alone – what about help from corporate South Africa, asked the Minister. Nzimande said he was worried about the low number of instructors (56) being certified and registered while only eight trainers were certificated.
“This number is too low to cope with the size and magnitude of the task at hand,” he said. The Minister told guests that the new vision for a post-school system seeks to ensure:
• A strong core of education and training programmes aligning with the changing needs of South African society and the world of work in the context of the 4IR.
• Access to high-quality educational opportunities that meet the burgeoning and immediate demand for ‘digital skills in the labour market created by the 4IR and a parallel need for a new wave of South African innovators and entrepreneurs who will drive and shape the 4IR to the social and economic benefit of all of its citizens.
• Massive increases in short-course skilling opportunities for unemployed and underemployed South Africans parallel with broader government and private-sector efforts to grow new employment opportunities for those people rapidly.
• Growing emphasis on integrating into PSET programmes and courses learning opportunities that prepare people to cope with accelerating change, both socially and economically, and those that emphasise critical generic skills.
He said the 4IR is rapidly changing how humans create, exchange, and distribute value, resulting in systemic change across many sectors and aspects of human life, with cross-cutting social, political, cultural, and economic implications.
“The 4IR imperatives require drastic digital transformation and skills development. Digital transformation cannot happen without skills acquisition,” he said.
Nzimande said digital skills development, ICT and innovation remain a key imperative given that the economy over the recent past to date has not been doing well and does not create enough employment opportunities for the youth; hence employment creation is on top of the agenda of a developmental state.
He called on Huawei to increase the pool of qualified trainers who will assist in the massification of training, including the training of trainers, adding that the training had come at the right time as the country and the economy grapples with the effects of the Pandemic.
Nzimande said the post-school shape was distorted and not a true reflection of what was happening. Out of every 100 young boys in grade one, the Minister said only six went to university, and only two completed their degrees. “Where are the other 94 children?,” he asked.