Thirty years after the uprising of the students of Soweto, the greatest challenge our youth continue to face, is to equip themselves with relevant skills, knowledge and values, to enable them to participate meaningfully in the economy.
That is why government has introduced the new Further Education and Training (FET) curriculum, establishing focus schools in Arts & Culture; Business, Commerce and Management; and Engineering and Technology. This will provide learners with quality subjects that were not previously available to many disadvantaged communities.
We are focusing on developing skills needed to meet the objectives of our Micro Economic Development Strategy, by increasing numbers in our FET colleges, while also encouraging learners to enter Higher Education, especially those planning to study maths, science and technology.
Our country needs to produce at least 13,000 engineers per year, but produces just above 3,000; we need to fill about half-a-million vacancies in the sectors of communication and information technology, engineering and financial services, but it cannot be filled.
Consider the fact that we are hosting the Soccer World Cup in 2010, and it is clear that the challenges and opportunities for our young people have never been so great.
The problem is that too few of our learners enter higher education with maths and science, thus too few opt for career paths critical to our economy. Half of the roughly 80,000 learners who enter grade 1, do not make it to grade 12.
I want to encourage more and more of you to take maths and science, and to say not to gangsterism and crime; alcohol and drugs; and risky sexual behaviour.
Enquiries:
Gert Witbooi
Media Liaison Officer
Office of the MEC for Education
Western Cape
Tel: 021 467 2523
Fax: 021 425 5689
Visit our website: http://wced.wcape.gov.za
