President Cyril Ramaphosa’s new approach to vocational training has received a thumbs up. Picture: Xabiso Mkhabela / Xinhua
Education expert and CEO of Future Learning Institute (FLi), Christo Nicholls, has welcomed President Cyril Ramaphosa’s new approach to ensuring that South Africa moves towards prioritising vocational training in higher education reform.
This comes after Ramaphosa, delivered his first State of the Nation Address, where he underscored a pronouncement made by Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Buti Manamela, who recently indicated that South Africa cannot “dream of taking people to Mars when we can’t have our own plumbers, cobblers, and seamstresses. Those are the kinds of skills we want to focus on and skills that are in our TVET colleges”.
Manamela highlighted the need for young people to recognise the myriad opportunities available within the TVET sector, signalling a shift toward a more integrated approach that blends academic practice with vocational training.
Ramaphosa underscored this strategy, stating: “To ensure that the economy has the skills it needs, we are increasing the production of artisans through TVET colleges. This is part of a shift we are undertaking towards education and skills that combine academic and skills-based training.”
Responding to this new shift, Nicholls said this move is a welcomed development for the future of this country, in light of the much-dreaded 42% expanded unemployment rate with a 60% youth unemployment rate in the country.
Original article from Independent Online
