More must be done to encourage ICT graduates in higher education, says education minister Naledi Pandor.
Speaking at a briefing held by the Meraka Institute and SAP Research Unit for Technology Development (UTD) yesterday, Pandor explained the primary concern for government is to increase the ICT skills pool.
“We can't allow SA to produce 20 PHDs a year; it's just not good enough.” She pointed to the efforts of SA's technology counterpart, India, which produces around 300 ICT higher graduates a year. She says India focused it attention on becoming an ICT economy and encouraged students to maintain their studies.
“I think we have a challenge in SA on the human capital side. It's a scarce skill that we can no longer afford to be comfortable about,” she added. The minister explained that government is trying to address the matter from the tertiary education level, by focusing on maths and science.
She said the Dinaledi schools were developed to address those subjects, specifically to address the number of students able to participate in ICT education at a higher level. “We produced 25 000 students who passed maths and science last year; this year we are hoping to double that.”
Small business growth
Pandor also acknowledged the research being conducted by the Meraka-SAP UTD, which has used mobile technology to educate teachers. The programme, which started in the North West Province, uses mobile education modules that train teachers in the benefits of using technologies in the classroom.
According to Darelle van Greunen, of the UTD and a lecturer at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and research director on the project, while the research on the results of the pilot project is still under way, the initial reports show teachers benefited from the experience.
The minister also congratulated other projects being conducted by the research collaboration, which has focused its research on the creation of ICT for the development of small and micro businesses.
Pandor said entrepreneurship contributes vitally to the South African economy and more needs to be done to educate these businesses in how ICT can be used as a tool for self-development.
Technology divorce
She noted there are many small businesses that almost divorce technology from the real world, where some people believe technology belongs to an exclusive world, rather than a tool to develop and sustain business.
According to the minister, the country needs to change the methods of investment in this space. “We are putting large resources into infrastructure and we are putting about 3% into the nurturing of entrepreneurs.”
The minister believes that, while infrastructure is a good resource to invest in, more of the funding needs to shift towards sustaining entrepreneurs. She believes these businesses are critical for creating jobs in the country, which in turn will alleviate poverty.
Danie Kok, director of the SAP Research CEC, in Pretoria, says the entire focus of the Meraka SAP UTD is to develop human capital in the ICT space, as well as software that is built specifically to address the needs of small business in the emerging markets.
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