By Akani Nkuna
Higher Education Deputy Minister Mimmy Gondwe has underscored the urgent need for intentional upskilling among students to meet the evolving demands of the modern workforce, while ensuring that entities which financially support them get value for their money.
Gondwe was speaking during the launch of the Sasol Project Industry Engineering Internship Programme with New Age Engineering Solutions in Secunda, Mpumalanga, where she highlighted the importance of aligning academic programmes with industry needs to drive economic growth.
“Lots of young people are being trained, reskilled and upskilled but following that, what happens? We cannot just skill and train for the sake of skilling and training. We should ensure that as many of those students are absorbed into the economy,” she said.
The launch, which was facilitated by the Energy and Water Sector Education and Training Authority (EWSETA), forms part of the government’s effort to combat youth unemployment. It also highlights the critical role of Technical and Vocational Education and Training colleges in national development.
The absorption rate of those in internship programmes into the labour market was recorded at 40%, a figure Gondwe described as worrisome.
She demanded that more be done to ensure that it increased, guaranteeing that many students were absorbed into the workplace.
“We need to do more. I think we are lagging behind in terms of ensuring that immediately when they leave our sector they go in somewhere else, they do not go home and sit there with a piece of paper in their hands,” Gondwe said.
EWSETA CEO Mpho Mookapele pointed out that several TVET lecturers returned last week from a visit in China where they were trained in manufacturing renewable energy components, which helped addressed inadequate resourcing and skilling of TVET lectures.
“We want to build and be proud of our public schools and also be proud of our public TVET colleges. We cannot only be driving our children to universities… the reality is that public colleges and TVET colleges should be actually the number one go too, because it really responds directly to what our industry requires,” said Mookapele.
Mookapele further expressed discontentment at the lack of interest young South Africans have shown towards certain job opportunities, including appliance repair technicians, saying EWSETA was looking at ways to address that.
“We have partnered with National Institute if Vocational and Technical Education (NIVTE) and other partners to look at how do we get young people interested in these vocations and also taking the opportunity and resigning from work to start their own businesses,” she added.
New Age Engineering Solutions Internship Programme beneficiary Dimpho Kwashu, who has an education degree from Unisa, told Inside Education that the transition into the technical environment had been stimulating, even though she had encouraged a few challenges.
“It has been very much challenging [coming from a theoretical education background], however, the transitioning has been informative. I have learnt a lot from the people that were mentoring me. I have, not just one mentor, but so many mentors,” she said.
Kwashu was inducted into the programme as a facilitator intern in 2023 where she was planning and presenting lessons to pipe fitter trainees, and she has since stayed at the company as a facilitator.
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