Higher Education, Science and Innovation Minister, Dr Blade Nzimande, has honoured Huawei for unearthing talent in the information communication technology (ICT) sector, especially during the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).
"The 4IR imperatives require drastic digital transformation and skills development. Digital transformation cannot happen without skills acquisition," the Minister said on Monday.
Nzimande was speaking during the Huawei South Africa ICT Talent Development Annual Awards ceremony on Monday, celebrating and honouring the excellent Huawei ICT Academy Instructors.
The programme is one of the initiatives in which Huawei collaborates with universities and colleges to train, develop and certify ICT talent across South Africa.
To date, the partnership between the department and the Chinese multinational technology corporation has established 72 academies at universities and colleges, with over 5 000 students participating in the Huawei certification ICT training.
"The number of instructors registered is 56 but I am worried about the number of trainers certificated if it is only eight. This number is too low to cope with the size and magnitude of the task ahead," he said.
"I, therefore, urge you to ensure that the number of registered and certificated instructors is increased to build a labour pool of qualified trainers who will assist in the massification of training, including the training of trainers.'
The Minister said the initiative is a good supplement to tackle digital challenges.
"This occasion comes right on time as my department is entrusted with a mammoth task of implementing the Skills Strategy for Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan post-COVID-19."
The Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan (ERRP) has identified communications and the digital economy as important enablers in growing our inclusive economy.
Nzimande told the guests that government had identified several digital skills gaps.
These include cloud architecture; cybersecurity; data centre operations; enterprise architecture development; network analysis; control and security; blockchain; data science; internet of things; machine learning and robotic automation.
"I have also released the Report of the Ministerial Task Team on the Implications of the 4IR for the Post-School Education and Training System and as Huawei South Africa, you have a huge role to play in the implementation of recommendations arising out of this report."
He said he was also pleased with the partnerships with post-school institutions, especially with the Media, Information and Communication Technologies Sector Education and Training Authority (MICT SETA), colleges and universities.
"This is the only way we can massify skills development in our country."
Unemployment
He said the country's immediate challenge is youth unemployment especially for those young people between the ages of 15 to 24, which remains high at 61%, with over 3.6 million of the same cohort being not in employment, education and training (NEET).
"At the centre of our new vision for the post-school system, we envision a PSET [Post-School Education and Training] system that provides a strong core of education and training programmes that align with the changing needs of both South African society and the world of work in the context of the 4IR."
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Nzimande is also looking at increasing short-course skilling opportunities for unemployed and underemployed South Africans in parallel with wider government and private-sector efforts to grow new employment opportunities.
"Growing emphasis on integrating into PSET programmes and courses learning opportunities that prepare people to be able to cope with accelerating change, both socially and economically, and those that emphasise key generic skills."
He said the 4IR is rapidly changing the way humans create, exchange, and distribute value, resulting in systemic change across many sectors and aspects of human life, with crosscutting social, political, cultural, and economic implications.
"The 4IR imperatives require drastic digital transformation and skills development. Digital transformation cannot happen without skills acquisition."
