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One feels somewhat helpless when the powers to be in creating a turn-around strategy in the human capital that are required to empower the helpless to enter the 1st & 2nd economies are not effective as the approach of leaving it up to the Sector Education & Training Authorities (SETA's) to give impetus to sustainable economic growth & development is a tall order indeed.
It will be interesting to attend sessions between SCOPA, SETA's and a Parliamentary Select Committee to discuss and debate the issues around non performance of some SETA's. Let us first start with the competencies, effectiveness and efficiencies of the various board members of SETA's regarding performance.We as the public (I am not sure) have the right to know on their (SETA) performances when so much public funds (from the Skills Levies) are disbursed monthly to the coffers of SETA's for efficient and proper distribution of these levies.
It appears that there may again be another "Toss & Turn" in how the SETA's will either be structured or "merged" given the slow development in our human capital that are required for the wonderful visions coming from BRICS and now the World Economic Forum on Africa. Are we going to colonise the economies of Africa or are we really going to get the competent African human capital ready to take on the economic challenges. The appropriate government ministries (Education, Labour, Trade & Industry, Public Works, Finance and others) will have to look closer to the real labour challenges that face us in our purpose of creating the sustainable growing economy that we so much desire and require. We can equate this discussion to a "farm without Water Resources."
The SETA "goal-posts" keep on changing and SETA's appear to struggle with many challenges including leadership, management, performance, quality assurance, accreditation, governance, financial management and a host of other challenges. When are we going to stop playing with the lives of hundreds of thousands of potential learners and students who are studying towards a "qualification" and these young learners are becoming despondent to continue as the system is flawed with "red tape". This include accreditted material, assessors, moderators, content of learner portfolios, proper storage of learner formative and summative evidence and the list can be expanded.
Wait when you meet those material writers, supposed experts in the field and those who sanction the various material for accreditation, help me please. I remember the call during the late eighties, "gutter education", liberation before education and education before liberation. We cannot say that we did not have sufficient time to correct the imbalances of the past in education. If we did not have sufficient time, we certainly have the funds (skills levies) and the right intention to educate our nation for liberating a sustainable growing economy for the nation. Educate our people in order that they may be competent, effective and efficient for the economy. We LOVE our nation and our democracy and we need to take charge of the challenges that are affecting the growth and development of the nation and the country.
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