The Herald Online **Business**
UP TO 50 000 artisans will be needed over the next two years to meet the needs specifically of the construction industry, Education Minister Naledi Pandor said yesterday.
Addressing a media briefing, Pandor said the pool of artisans would have to continue expanding after that, adding that there was also a need to expand the numbers of students at Further Education and Training (FET) colleges “if we want the skills that we require”.
At the same time, the country would have to find 200 000 jobs a year to accommodate FET students.
Pandor said the skills that did exist were “aging skills”, noting that some of these were now being employed by the provincial and local government departments to provide a range of technical and financial support for municipalities.
Pandor said that a technical team of retired people had been put together to ensure that what was being taught at FET colleges was “absolutely appropriate”.
She said the FET colleges had taken central place in the “skills development terrain”.
“The colleges are now semiautonomous at the same time as substantial resources are being provided for the recapitalisation of the institutions and the development of teaching staff. Most of the recapitalisation funds have been committed, and the remaining funds for 2007 will be used to enhance ICT connectivity in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo colleges.”
In addition, she said bursaries had been provided to more than 20 000 students studying in the fields of scarce skills: Engineering, construction, ICT, business studies, and hospitality.
“They will study in-depth courses, which have been developed together with the relevant industry players, and will emerge ready and able to take up employment in the sector.”
Pandor said that, as the national certificate for vocational training was rolled out by the FET colleges, even more students were going to need places to complete their learning in the workplace before becoming artisans.
“FET colleges are looking at enrolling 400 000 learners per year, at least half of whom will probably be in trade-related fields. We will need 200 000 workplaces per year to accommodate such learners.”
On importing skills, Pandor said this was already happening with for example welders “because we cannot produce those skills in a day.
“If you need to import the skills we need as a temporary measure we will do so while we train our own people.”
At the same briefing, labour director-general Vanguard Mkosana said his department would check on investments by sectoral training authorities (Setas) and was looking at drawing up guidelines for investments in the future following the revelation of the Transport Education Training Authority's investment in Fidentia, a financial services company that has been placed under curatorship.