The chairperson of the national parliamentary portfolio committee on higher education, Marius Fransman made the announcement at the education summit in Pacaltsdorp at the weekend. The money will be used for a variety of skills development initiatives in the Southern Cape and Klein-Karoo.
The summit, hosted by the Eden District Municipality, attracted close to 800 people eager to find solutions for the dearth of jobs and skills in the district.
The South African government annually spends 22% of the national budget on education - one of the highest percentages in the world - but our neighbouring countries boast higher education levels and spend a fraction compared to us.
Fransman blames this on a variety of systemic mistakes including the so called ‘tot system’, Bantu education, outcomes based education and the closing of teachers’ colleges.
He said problems endemic to a system take decades to overcome. "The huge number of children suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome today is part of the horrible legacy of the tot payment system that turned many of the workers in the Western Cape into alcoholics."
According to Luvuyo Nqubelanga, the CEO of the South Cape College said in the Eden district primary schools house more than double the number of kids than secondary schools.
"Where are those kids after primary school? Intensive attention must be paid to early childhood development as literacy levels at primary school level are shockingly low."
There are 245 schools in the Eden district.
The summit was organised from the office of the speaker, Stephen de Vries and the ensuing skills development programmes will also be driven by him.
The recent adjustment budget enabled his office to make an additional R1,3 million available for early childhood education, which includes infrastructure, equipment and other related costs.
A further R500 000 has been set aside for the driver’s licence programme, whereas grade 11s are assisted with study skills through Youth Power.
At least 500 learnerships will be rolled out by the Setas within the district.
The establishment of another trade test centre in Mossel Bay in the next year will relieve the load on the one in George. These centres make it possible for artisans to undergo trade tests to convert their previous experience into a recognised quali-fication.
Wayne Roberts from the Eden District Youth Council said industrial areas were needed to create jobs. "We must stop marketing Eden as a retirement village or just as a tourist Mecca.
"Our young people are leaving. The training institutions should also focus on hard skills instead of offering an over abundance of soft skills courses."
Article and photos: Ilse schoonraad
.jpg)
Summit goers queued from early on Saturday to register for the education summit at Pacaltsdorp Secondary.
