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Programme Director
Hon Premier, Mr Mahlangu
MEC, Mrs Coleman,
Honoured guests
Ladies and gentlemen

Let me consign your minds down memory lane to the historical document that continues to fashion our destiny up to this very day. The Freedom Charter has a conception of a national democratic struggle that has to eventuate the economic emancipation of the downtrodden masses of our country. This stark reality also received the deserved attention of President Thabo Mbeki in his State of the Nation address where he talked about the " the past of endemic and widespread poverty and cross imbalances in levels of development and the distribution of wealth, income and opportunity. It is a past of an economy that was immersed in a crisis that was destined to worsen." One of the major characteristics of this past is the underdevelopment and poverty of the most important resource of our country, i.e. our people.

The truism of this statement, I believe ladies and gentlemen, is what has made us to congregate in this fashion in search of a permanent and sustainable solution to this problem. The deliberate and systematic de-skilling and underdevelopment of our people by the past regime has to be uncompromisingly redressed with all means at our disposal. For, I believe poverty and humanity have never meant to exist side by side.

We should therefore, not be frightful, ladies and gentlemen, to acknowledge that the fuse of the time bomb of unemployment and poverty is fast getting very short. Therefore, the strategies emerging from this congregation need to be realistic in addressing this socio-economic anomaly.

Having said that, the UTEC study in THE DEMAND FOR AND PROVISION OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN MPUMALANGA starkly identifies a huge disjuncture between the Human Resource Development Index and the requisite skills base essential for our developing economy in our province. The direct source for this skewed equation is the education system that to an extent bears no direct relevance to the huge economic needs of our province. The direct consequence of this anomaly is a huge reservoir of unemployable throngs of out of school youth and that of the general populace.

This is not only an enormous provincial challenge but a national one too. If this total onslaught against our people was achieved by the past regime through education and training, attempts to arrest and reverse its effects should be through education and training as well.

As a result, in keeping with the National Education Human Resource Development Strategy, my department staged in the year 2000, the multi-sectoral Malaga summit.

Paramount among the milestones achieved in this summit, was the identification of key subject areas that the department, in partnership with its stakeholders would expend enormous effort in promoting. These are in the fields of Maths, Sciences Commerce and Technology. I believe, therefore, as all of you would agree, that most of the scarce skills identified require a very firm Mathematics and Science base at school level.

Supporting the UTEC study, the numbers of students who are matriculating with Mathematics and Science are still a hand-full to provide an adequate base. It is against this backdrop that my department is therefore embarking on a vigorous intervention strategy to improve participation and success rates in Mathematics and Science. This is a valiant attempt to break the backbone of the vicious cycle of unemployment and poverty.

Having thus for argued, ladies and gentlemen, we have technikons and technical schools through out the length and breath of our province. I would, therefore, love to see the increased involvement of both the commercial and manufacturing sectors in the curriculum development of these institutions. The intention is to create an increased equilibrium between the outcome of these institutions and the skills expectations of developing economy.

The battle cry, ladies and gentlemen, is in earnest reverberating in all corners of the province that economically viable skills development has to occupy the centre stage. We should also take note that, despite efforts to replenish our growing economy with sustainable skills base, this effort is thwarted by the rapacious efforts of the Canadians and the British, who without conscience of consulting with relevant department, proceeded to pouch our skilled and experienced teachers.

To forestall this, I would advocate for the effective integration and strategic co-ordination of all the critical elements of our Human Resource Development Strategy, both on the demand side and supply side. For, it is quite excruciating to realise that the skilled Human Resource base emigrating is irreplaceable in terms of locally crafted skills.

In the short term, yes, the appropriate route to take is to create proper conditions so that the recruitment of scarce skills can be facilitated. However, the inherent contradiction characterising South Africa today, where massive skills shortages exist side by side with surplus of trained personnel in certain sectors has to be strategically and systematically decimated. This, of course, does not help the accomplishment of our national strategic objective of addressing racial and gender questions with regard to the enskilling processes.

It is without doubt that the picture painted in the foregoing, substantially triggers the undesirable effect of poverty and unemployment that continue to militate against the realisation of the full and substantive democracy. Then, how can we expect, ladies and gentlemen, that the abjectly poor and unemployed to significantly contribute in other aspects of life in the society.

This, therefore, constitutes the basis of my argument that education and training should constitute the front-line missile to pulverise and annihilate the poverty / unemployment scourge. For our people to continue to enjoy decent and meaningful life. In addition to the contributions already mentioned, a strident call is made for:

* The direct employer participation in life long learning;
* Pinpointed focus on ABET and literacy;
* The development of skills to support SMMEs

In conclusion, I need to reiterate the overarching significance of education and training to yield products that cannot only find employment but also those capable of creating their own means of employment. This in essence, is the meaning also embodied in the total strategy to address the sustainable human resource development needs in our Province.

I thank you

Issued by Education, Mpumalanga

2 March 2001