The Setas' relocation is an issue that will be handled properly and thoroughly by the Minister as we deal with the review process. I want to leave it at that.
The ANC-led government has correctly identified education as one of its primary priorities, to the extent that it was divided into two departments, namely that of Basic Education and that of Higher Education and Training. This came about from the recognition that education is a useful instrument in the fight against poverty and inequality and that it is indispensable in the reversal of the past social and economic imbalances.
Higher Education and Training is crucial in the empowerment of the working class and the poor, who were previously marginalised from central economic activity, to enable them to participate in the economic mainstream, thereby emancipating themselves from being entrapped in the vicious cycle of structural and systemic poverty.
This government has set as one of its objectives the creation of decent work and sustainable livelihoods, and higher education is a potent weapon in the hands of our people in rolling back the distortion of human potential that persists as a legacy of the past.
Research has shown that there is a mismatch with regard to the skills deficit and unemployment in South Africa. This area of work calls for immediate transformation, as in yesterday, lest our freedom be meaningless. It is the ANC government, under President Jacob Zuma, that established a dedicated Department of Higher Education and Training for there to be adequate attention and focus on the challenges faced by the majority of our people.
In his state of the nation address, the President said, "We have placed education and skills development at the centre of government's policies." Hon Minister, it will be important that the skills development interventions being considered are aligned with the National Industrial Policy Framework, the Provincial Growth and Development Strategies and the Local Economic Development Goals in order to maximise placement opportunities for graduates of our programmes.
You should be congratulated, however, hon Minister, on your efforts in aligning the National Skills Development Strategy with the Human Resource Development Strategy.
It is a common knowledge that the majority of the Setas function below expectation, as evidenced by the Auditor-General's annual reports. Among those are the Energy Seta, the Public Service Seta, the Construction Seta and the Media, Advertising, Publishing, Printing and Packaging Seta, which are all of major concern. We would like to urge you, Minister, to deal thoroughly with the review process outcomes and within the timelines agreed to.
The funds earmarked for training and skills development by the Setas through service providers should not end up benefiting big business in the industry without showing regard for emerging companies, particularly those run by previously disadvantaged persons.
The Setas should strengthen their monitoring capacity to ensure that the work done by service providers has the necessary impact and is able to achieve its required goals.
In the event that foreign companies and countries have been engaged in mentoring, coaching and in general skills transferral, we need to monitor these programmes to ensure that our main objective is realised.
We need to acknowledge that we do have some best practice models. For instance, there is the Fountain Hill Estate in KwaZulu-Natal, which became the first farm to establish a learning centre in 2005 through the collaboration of AgriSA, Media Works and the Fountain Hill Estate, and they actually succeeded in that particular regard.
We are aware that whereas considerable progress has been registered, the capacity to spend all the national skills fund monies is found wanting. It is hoped that under your capable leadership, all the bottlenecks will be removed and the backlogs speedily addressed. The department should continue to invest extensively in the FET colleges and the Setas to ensure the broad skilling of the South African nation. We must strengthen the college sector by changing the mindset, to ensure that the colleges are equally attractive as providers of skills. We must also create relationships with business and employers to ensure work-driven training, retention and promotion of people in in-service training.
These colleges should produce artisans, technicians and engineers, with an increased focus on training much-needed artisans as a measure to improve the growth of the economy. Strengthening FET colleges should also mean their reorientation in order to foster patriotism, social cohesion and nation-building to avoid turning South Africa into a skills-manufacturing plant for the benefit of other countries. For example, in the medical profession nurses are going to Canada, Britain and Saudi Arabia.
We need a real campaign to mobilise the public to support FET colleges as centres of first choice for learners and students in order to remove the negative perception and to restore their credibility.
The other main challenge which needs to be acted upon is the recognition of prior learning, RPL. The original noble concept for RPL was intended to build a more inclusive education and training system and to provide easier access to different levels and forms of learning to those who had been disadvantaged by the previous system, thereby creating a system for redress and equity.
The SA Qualifications Authority, the National Artisan Moderating Body and the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations should facilitate qualification for trades as well as access to learning in the workplace.
There are many opportunities provided by the recognition of prior learning if implemented properly, such as access to better jobs, occupational mobility, the safeguarding of jobs, access to further education and training, a return to the formal education system, increased self- confidence, salary increases, and so on.
Therefore, RPL's implementation and proper funding may not be overemphasised as greater needs and expectations have been created. Of course, there are success stories, as witnessed by the University of the Western Cape and the Workers' College of KwaZulu-Natal, the SA Police Service ...