Education must reclaim its place as a means to the betterment of life

If Dr Mimmy Gondwe could have her way, all higher education graduates would be fully active in the economy – selling and even exporting their skills to where they are needed the most.  This was the central message of the Deputy Minister to the senior management of Universities South Africa (USAf) during a courtesy call to the USAf Office in Pretoria, on Tuesday, 5 November.

“I am responsible for all legal matters; gender-based violence and matters of representation in higher education. I have an executive oversight role of all private institutions of higher learning, including two sector education and training authorities (SETAs).

“Among the SETAs, I am responsible for two — the Energy and Water SETA and the Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services SETA. I also have a responsibility over workplace programmes of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) nature, and community colleges.”

She said one thing that had always worried her is higher education’s general preoccupation with enrolments. “What  happens to the youngsters exiting the sector has received less attention, notwithstanding the abnormal levels of youth unemployment, especially in our country.”

“I believe education is a means to an end,” Dr Gondwe declared to USAf’s senior management.  “That’s why parents send their children to school. My biggest worry is that the current trend — where more and more graduates end up sitting at home after qualifying in different skills — sends a wrong message on education…Our skills are commodities we should be able to sell, and even export. Right now I’m reaching out to my counterpart in the Department of International Relations and Cooperation to explore how we can export construction skills that I know are in high demand in some countries. We must capitalise on every opportunity to get our youth economically fulfilled.”

Dr Gondwe said her work agenda was being driven by the top three priorities of the Government of National Unity. These are a) to drive inclusive growth and job creation; b) to reduce poverty and tackle the high cost of living, and c) to build a capable, ethical and developmental state.

“I feel that we, as the higher education sector, must focus on the high cost of living and building a capable and developmental state.”

The Deputy Minister’s engagement with USAf was taking place on the eve of a summit that she was about to host at the University of Johannesburg’s Business School on Wednesday, 6 November. “I will be having a conversation with the private sector, inviting them to partner us in bringing young people into the economy. I expect up to 115 industry representatives tomorrow, and, hopefully, more summits will follow in the near future.”

As part of her ongoing conversations with business, she cited one with a financial service provider – focusing on TVET learners in the rural areas. “We all know that vocational learners  end up in city-based industries, so, through this initiative, we’re exploring bringing industries to where they are.” In another conversation with an ICT International Company and heads of ICT (information and communication technologies) companies,  Dr Gondwe said she was exploring partnerships that would introduce TVET students to ICT skills, adding that ICT holds the future of the world of work through robotics, artificial intelligence and the like. In a separate consideration for students with disabilities, the Deputy Minister was exploring with a telecommunications provider, the possibility of zero-rated data.

So, through what was then the upcoming Business Summit, the Deputy Minister said she was looking “to birth tangible outcomes, where Business makes pledges to support specific sectors of the economy that will generate youth employment.”

Dr Gondwe went on to express grave concern over TVETs’ throughput rates. “Some have as low as 13% throughput — to the extent that the National Treasury is becoming disillusioned about continuing to invest in a sector that does not seem to add value.  Yet some TVET learners are doing groundbreaking stuff.” She said she was here to find out “what role we can play together with USAf to help out where we can.”

“Preliminary investigations found that there is no correlation between the course offerings of TVETS and the skills most demanded in the national economy. I’ve seen in some, excellent women principals who are just not getting it right on the throughput.  I was surprised to learn that one TVET is ranked high [among all 50 accredited TVETs] in the country — yet their throughput is 20% — a not encouraging situation at all.”

Dr Gondwe said she felt that as long as there are wrongs taking place in the TVET sector they blight the good that is taking place. “I would like us to validate TVETs,” she reiterated, adding that considering the contribution of TVETs in some countries’ economies, SA universities have a role to play in uplifting those in their contexts.

In response, Dr Matutu suggested an investigation to understand whether it is the TVETs’ staff capacity/capability, learner under-preparedness or the scarcity of opportunities to gain practical experience on the part of the learners in order to complete their qualifications that leads to low throughput rates. “If the college is not capacitated to place its students in industry, they will never get the practicals they need to qualify, therefore, they will never complete their programmes,” Dr Matutu said, citing from personal experience, an esteemed university in South Africa that requires its engineering students to undergo work-based learning to graduate, yet does nothing to secure placement for those students. “We must therefore first identify the root cause of the throughput; that will inform appropriate interventions.”

Dr Matutu also mentioned that USAf once attempted to assist a Johannesburg-based TVET that was under administration in 2022.  Following engagements with the authorities, USAf, through its Higher Education Leadership and Management (HELM) programme, offered a holistic intervention through lecturer development and management capacitation. In partnership with the Energy and Water Sector Education and Training Authority (EWSETA), USAf was meant to capacitate five lecturers at that college in renewable energy training, and 20 middle managers in an intensive management and leadership development programme.

“The funds that were transferred to fund this work never reached us, hence our failure to proceed with this intervention,” Dr Matutu stated. “We believed that a pilot with a few TVETs would have paved a way and made a difference, over time. Overall, the disorganisation within TVETs makes it difficult for us to assist.”

Dr Matutu acknowledged, nonetheless, that there are TVETs performing better than others, such as those that have partnered with Universities of Technology (UoTs). “I believe we should properly fundraise to align UoTs and the TVETs”. She further expressed confidence that the Deputy Minister’s ongoing industry engagements would yield meaningful results for TVETs.

“The WSG might particularly resonate with your passion areas. Closely affiliated to it is the Community of Practice that concerns itself with students’ learning in practice and industry involvement in those processes, among other matters.” Mr Mabizela advised Dr Gondwe of the upcoming National Graduate Destination Study, which is one of the key priorities of the WSG, that will be undertaken from 2025. “We will keep you updated as that project unfolds.”

Regarding flagship programmes of USAf, Mr Mabizela briefed the Deputy Minister on the HELM programme referred to, earlier, that concerns itself with providing bespoke capacitation interventions to leadership and management levels in higher education – emphasising that each intervention is informed by evidence of need in the targeted groups. Dr Matutu added that HELM distinguished itself from universities’ regular leadership programmes by situating the modules within the specific context of universities, thus capacitating deans, heads of departments and schools as well as mid-level managers in administration, to manage within a higher education context.  Also situated under the auspices of HELM was the Women in Leadership (WiL) programme, which she said might interest the Deputy Minister for its potential to influence women’s upward mobility and representivity in universities’ senior to executive leadership positions. She said WiL was also founded in response to surveyed women’s experiences in the sector.

The second programme was the Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) programme, whose goals are to create entrepreneurial students who would graduate as potential job creators; to support academics in instilling the spirit of entrepreneurship in students through teaching and research, and to create entrepreneurial universities with capacity to diversify their own income, operating in vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems in their broader contexts. Within EDHE, Mr Mabizela drew the Deputy Minister’s attention to:

• The annual Students’ Intervarsity competition – the finals of which were coming up on 21-22
• The Student Women Economic Empowerment (SWEEP) Project striving to bolster student women’s participation in entrepreneurship.
• The Economic Activation Offices within universities, responsible for all entrepreneurial activity on campuses.

Examples of other initiatives of potential interest to the Deputy Minister, were:

• Advancing Early Career Researchers and Scholars programme – a mentorship and capacity building initiative borne in response to findings of a study; women predominate; matchmaking between mentees (about 80) and mentors (about 40).
• Gender-based violence considerations being made by the Transformation Strategy Group (TSG).
• Disability initiatives being driven by the Transformation Managers’ Forum, a Community of Practice that works closely with the TSG.

Dr Matutu offered to suggest in a comprehensive write-up to the Deputy Minister, possible areas of collaboration with USAf. This would also include reports of various research studies completed in the areas of interest to Dr Gondwe, which would inform her on identified needs of specific interest groups within her purview.

‘Mateboho Green is Universities South Africa’s Manager: Corporate Communication.