The Citizen reports that Higher Education and Training Minister Naledi Pandor said on Monday that colleges should equip students with skills required by industry through changing the nature of tuition programmes offered so as to close the gap between education and workplace.  

She was speaking at the annual two-day career development summit organised by the Fibre Processing and Manufacturing Sector Education and Training Authority (FPM Seta).  Encouraging pupils at the summit to “take up getaway subjects like maths and science”, Pandor said pupils should “aim to become manufacturers of the future – not just workers”.  South Africa, Pandor said, had “an oversupply of low-skilled workers and an undersupply of the highly skilled.”  She went on note:  “We struggle to compete in labour-intensive global markets because our unskilled workers are too expensive and we struggle to compete in capital-intensive markets because we are short of high-level skills…  Globally, the market for people with portable skills is exploding in areas like engineering, finance, marketing, construction, health, management and technology.”  Pandor advised that government had drawn up a list of priority trades, which included bricklayers, electricians, boilermakers, plumbers, mechanics, carpenters, fitters and turners.

• Read this report by Brian Sokutu in full at The Citizen
• Read too, PFM Seta empowering youth through skills development programmes, at The Citizen

Get other news reports at the SA Labour News home page