BuaNews (Tshwane)
David Masango
29 August 2007
Johannesburg — Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka says science and technology should not be viewed as "elitist" but rather as sectors whose growth can spearhead Africa's development.
The Deputy President was addressing the first African Union (AU) Conference of African Women in Science and Technology, underway in Sandton until Friday.
"We need to change the structural obstacles, which continue to hinder the development of science and technology for the benefit of the poor. We need to overcome barriers that continue to exclude girl children and women from the study of science and technology," she said.
Women attending the conference are discussing how best they can actively participate in science and technology initiatives.
The conference is also expected to work towards developing programmes that encourage more women to pursue careers in these fields.
The Deputy President called for the "demystifying" of mathematics, science and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), explaining that there were commonly-held perceptions that their study is the domain of "extra-ordinary people" and of men.
"If we wish to change this perception we need to firstly communicate in ways which makes these subjects attractive.
"In this way we can create a popular understanding of Science, Mathematics and ICT, which will not only attract students, but will also, lead to more people understanding how these subjects work and can work in the interest of everyone," she said.
Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka explained that there are a small number of female researchers, constituting an estimated 29 percent of researchers in Africa, according to statistics by UNESCO.
The Deputy President acknowledged that there is a growing, common understanding in Africa that women's education, equality and empowerment are vital to ensuring an integrated, developed, prosperous and peaceful continent.
"There is also a growing recognition, in Africa, of the need to deal with the structural obstacles that impede women's full participation in society. Africa's development as a continent cannot be separated from the development and education of Africa's women!" she asserted.
She added that without the development and emancipation of women, Africa could never be free, prosperous and peaceful.
In that regard, Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka cited Africa's the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015 as a good indicator for Africa to gauge its progress.
With respect to the second MDG of achieving universal primary education, she said Africa had made "much progress".
"We are glad to see in that regard growth in enrolment of girls and in some countries performance in science. However, few girls go to tertiary. That we must attend to," she said.
She said according to the UN's Report on Africa for 2007, enrolment at primary schools in Sub-Saharan Africa in 1999 stood at 57 percent and increased to 70 percent in 2005 - an increase of 13 percent in six years.
"This is a good sign," she said, adding that more needed to be done.
Alluding to the third MDG of promoting gender equality and empowering women, Ms Mlambo-Ngcuka said Africa needed to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary education at all levels by 2015, where it still existed.
"We need to find ways of ensuring that girls and children from poorer communities are able to complete their primary and secondary education.
"That is the biggest African challenge that we in this generation can bequest the next generation and to change the history of Africa. Only good education will alter history of Africa for the best," the Deputy President emphasised.
She explained that South Africa had tried to focus on women in the promotion of the Accelerated Growth Initiative for South Africa (Asgisa) and its component, the Joint Initiative on Priority Skills Acquisition (JIPSA) aimed at job creation and poverty alleviation.
"This multi-stakeholder initiative is a response to skills shortage, more especially among women and young people. Part of its objective is also to increase the participation of women and young people in fields like engineering, artisan training, commerce and management," she told delegates.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2007 BuaNews. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
