Germiston, Gauteng, 06 November 2015 – Today, the Deputy President, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa, in his capacity as the Chairperson of the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC), convened a successful meeting.

The meeting which was hosted by the Ekurhuleni West TVET College (EWC) in their newly built state of the art Campus in Germiston. It was preceded by a visit on the Automotive Repair and Maintenance, as well as the Fitting and Machinery Workshops of the College, where Council members were exposed to how practical skills are developed and transferred to students. The College invested in this necessary training to develop the necessary skills required to address the skills demand in the market. This was as a result of the partnerships the College has with private sector.

The Deputy President in his opening remarks said, “we meet in the wake of protests at universities across our country at proposed fee increases. Underlying these protests is a desire to access education and to do so in an environment conducive for learning and teaching. It arises from an expectation among the youth of this country that education should be made available to all. The force and urgency of the protests arise from the lived experience of students, particularly those from poor backgrounds. It reflects their day-to-day struggles, not only to receive a quality education, but to be able to afford the basic necessities of life”.

“As the HRDC, we are uniquely placed to make a contribution to the call for an affordable and better resourced higher education sector. We are called upon to deepen and enhance our work as a Council. We are called up to re-focus our efforts and to align our programme with the needs of the country. Thus, we should proceed with deliberation and urgency”, said the Deputy President.

In the sitting, the HRD Council adopted a Vision, Mission, goals and programmes that reflect HRD needs of the economy as outlined in the revised HRD Strategy towards 2030. The vision is, Partnering to innovatively develop human potential.

Adopt-A-TVET College

A presentation was made which focused on the Adopt-A-TVET College, which was initiated in November 2014 through a pledge that was signed at Flavius Mareka College at a Council meeting. Various stakeholders from government, civil society, TVET Colleges, Business, Organised Labour and HRDC signed the pledge and committed to participate in the initiative.

The problem statement of the initiative is that the TVET college sector, has unevenness in producing  quality skills that are responsive to industry needs and the development agenda of the country.  Some are capable of managing the challenges whilst others are having less resources.

Four levels of immediate challenges have been identified in the TVET sector: poor delivery of teaching and learning; poor management and administration; limited access to workplace training opportunities; and limited employment of TVET graduates.

The Aim of the Adopt-A-TVET initiative is to create working partnerships between TVET colleges and stakeholders, mainly commerce and industry; to build 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.

Way Forward

The HRD Strategy has been accepted by the Council, and will be presented to the Economic Ministerial Cluster and afterwards tabled to Cabinet for approval.

The HRD Council accepted the Adopt-A-TVET College initiative. The model that was presented will be improved as it is implemented.

Ends

Issued by: The Human Resource Development Council Secretariat

Enquiries: Ms Brenda Ntombela, Head: HRDC Secretariat

Tel 012 943 3187 / Mobile 082 573 3716