16Nov
STATEMENT ON CONCLUSION OF THE 19TH MEETING OF THE HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (HRDC), HELD AT AIDC, PRETORIA, 10 NOVEMBER 2017
Date: 10 November 2017
Pretoria – Deputy President, Cyril Ramaphosa, as Chairman of the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC), today, 10 November 2017, chaired a successful 19th meeting of the Council at the Automotive Industry Development Centre (AIDC), Pretoria.
The 19th HRDC meeting was proceeded by a guided tour of the host, AIDC, where Deputy President Ramaphosa together with council members were exposed to the equipment that is used in training the students in motor mechanics. AIDC presented an overview of its work in skills development in the automotive industry.
In his opening remarks, the Deputy President mentioned that, the TVET sector continues to underperform, therefore this HRDC sitting should continue to devise workable solutions.
In line with the Adopt-A-TVET College initiative, HRDC and industry need to contribute in building colleges of excellence and to enable the supply of relevant, high quality skills that are responsive to the social and economic needs of the country. Council members are encouraged to adopt a Game Changer model which fosters partnerships between TVET Colleges and Industries with an ultimate goal of reducing the unemployment rate of the youth. In addition, Council members have been encouraged to be “Friends of TVET Colleges”.
The Council also received a presentation on special needs in education, in particular the deaf and the sign language communities. HRDC needs to focus and bring meaningful contribution to the deaf community. This is important to ensure that there is integration of the deaf community in our schooling system. The Council has resolved that both the Departments of Basic Education and Higher Education and Training are to engage with the work that has been done thus far and report back in the next Council meeting.
In conclusion, Council acknowledged the work done to address the systemic challenges facing the TVET sector and encouraged the Department of Higher Education and Training to continue to collaborate with all the stakeholders in addressing these challenges.
Ends
Issued by: The Human Resource Development Council Secretariat
Enquiries: Ms Brenda Ntombela, Head of Secretariat: HRDC
Tel 012 943 3187 / Mobile 082 573 3716
