HIGHER EDUCATION SIGNS AN AGREEMENT TO ENHANCE ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN AND YOUTH

BY STAFF REPORTER
A partnership between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the department of Higher Education & Training (DHET) will enhance economic empowerment opportunities for SA youth and women through skills development interventions.
On Thursday minister of higher education Blade Nzimande welcomed the signing of UNDP and DHET agreement.
The department said the MoU is signed together with a project document titled “Automotive Training and Re-Skilling in the Post-COVID-19 Economic Recovery for Vulnerable Youth and Women in South Africa”, which is a year-long project focused on capacitating TVET vocational training in the automotive industry, funded by the Government of Japan.
“TVET colleges have and continue to play a crucial role in providing vocational training to women and youth, as well as supplying the demand for semi-skilled workers in various industries. The automotive sector employs workers across various skills levels and is central to re-industrialising the South African economy post-COVID-19. It for this reason that the project will support three TVET colleges namely Coastal KZN College (Kwazulu-Natal), Northlink College (Western Cape), and Tshwane South College (Gauteng),” Nzimande said.
He said the project will consolidate the existing interventions and government plans to support youth, women, and vocational training by providing skills to enhance employability and increase linkages with the private sector, particularly the automotive sector.
“Although it will run over a period of one year, UNDP and its partners have designed the project with special focus on engaging key role players to secure additional resources and ensure sustainability. UNDP has also been working closely with key actors in the automotive industry such as the National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers (NAACAM) and Toyota. It has also made linkages with existing national interventions such as the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention by working with the SA Youth Mobi platform implemented by the Harambee Youth Employment,” he said.
Nzimande said the project activities of this programme include a rapid needs assessment that will uncover the key challenges and opportunities faced by the TVET colleges and students in the COVID-19 context.
“We have always looked at training our students for employability and the skills that they acquire in our TVET colleges should help them easily get employment or be able to create employment themselves through the artisanal and technical skills we offer. We have since received compelling support from Japan through financial resources to ensure that the technical capacity of our TVET colleges is aligned with the industry requirements and private sector needs broadly,” Nzimande said.
Nzimande said Covid-19 has deepened development challenges that nations were already struggling to address.
He said the youth unemployment rate in South Africa is at a concerning state and the pandemic has also forced some learning institutions to suspend their offerings or pursue remote learning.
His Excellency Maruyama Norio, Ambassador of Japan to the Republic of South Africa said Japan is committed to the skills development in South Africa and this project is closely aligned with the broader interests of the Japan-South Africa collaboration.
“The project builds up on already Existing interventions we have in the country in relation to technical education and vocational training. We envision that the partnership contributes towards the business exchanges between South African and Japanese industries to achieve greater employment opportunities for youth and women in SA,” he said.
The project is one of several COVID-19 response interventions that UNDP has been championing alongside the South African government to support the country to recover from the devastating impacts of the pandemic.