Press Release: Minister of Education meets with University and Industry ICT Leaders
National Colloquium on Information and Communication Technology Education and Training and the Production of Graduates
On Monday 19 March 2007, the Minister of Education, Mrs. Naledi Pandor, met with leaders of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) departments from South African universities and with leading ICT industry personalities, to discuss the current and projected needs for ICT graduates to address the skills shortage in this field. ICT is critical to South Africa’s economic and social development, and the reduced number of graduates being produced since the "dot-com crash" is a grave concern. This is underscored by the ISETT SETA Draft Skills Plan 2005–2010, which highlighted the "alarming" trend and calls for serious and urgent attention.
The meeting took the form of a one-day Colloquium, arranged jointly by the Department of Education and Rhodes University. In opening the meeting, Minister Pandor challenged participants to expand the relationships between government, the ICT industry and universities, forming new partnerships and generating innovative solutions to addressing the ICT skills crisis.
The global scope of the problem was noted by Mark Harris, Country General Manager for IBM South Africa and Central Africa, who highlighted the massive shortfalls in production of ICT specialists internationally. Dr. Andrew Paterson, Research Director for Education Science and Skills Development at the HSRC, presented the results of a detailed investigation of the skills shortage in ICT and the production of university graduates. He noted the need to distinguish between "scarce skills" where people cannot be found to fill vacant positions in the ICT industry, and "critical skills" where individuals need training to extend their skill-set. Telkom Executive, Bonisile Gantile, pointed to the need for graduates to be appropriately equipped for the recent trend towards convergence of different aspects of the industry.
Participants in the colloquium spent most of the day in vigorous debate around the scope of the problem, and ways in which it might be addressed through coordinated, collaborative initiatives by all role-players. A small task team was appointed with representation from the universities, Department of Education, ICT industry, and the CSSA (Computer Society of South Africa) to collate the results of the event and to formulate a plan of action to address the skills crisis. In closing, Dr. Saleem Badat, Vice-Chancellor of Rhodes University, congratulated the participants for the historic step that had been taken. He posed a vision for the future of a "community of practice" in the ICT sector in South Africa, where a combination of healthy competition and effective collaboration can provide a sustainable and high-quality system for the production of ICT graduates to meet the nation's development challenges.