HRDSA Strategy Document

In South Africa our development agenda remains the central focus of public policy and forms the basis of collective endeavour in all spheres of our society. For the most part, intractable and urgent challenges remain. These include:

• Poverty;
• Inequality;
• Threats to social cohesion;
• On-going demographic inequities (race, gender, age, class and geographic);and
• The impact of globalisation.

This new strategy therefore:

• Recognises both the demand – and supply –side with regards to HRD issues;
• Acknowledges that HRD spans several domains, from the foundations of early childhood development right through to labour market entry;
• Recognises systematic challenges as impediments to successful HRD policy implementation;
• Locates HRD in the broader development context and takes into account the challenges posed by development issues such as poverty, inequality, high unemployment levels, lack of social cohesion, etc

There are certain areas of priority economic growth that require us to overcome the skills shortage which are constraining growth and investment over the short term. But effective and credible HRD cannot depend entirely on short –term measures. The focus of this strategy is therefore equally on medium term and long-term perspectives. The HRDSA is therefore explicitly designed to respond to the imperatives of urgency and sustainability.

One important aim of the HRDSA is to provide a overarching and coordinated framework for the multitude of skills development activities in the country and, in so doing, to render them more purposeful and to improve their impact on the skills challenges in the country. It is hoped that this strategy will promote the skills development agenda that will take us into the next two decades of development for the country.

HRD represents a key lever for accelerating economic growth and development in South Africa.

The responsibilities of government arising from this strategy are significant. However, the strategy is not solely related to the responsibilities of government. It is a call to all social partners, stakeholders and agents that have a role to play in HRD: workers, employers, the non-governmental sector, educators, learners, parents, individuals and the community.

It is a call to create a better life for all South Africans.

Click here to download the report