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PHUTI MOSOMANE
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa told delegates at the annual Basic Education Lekgotla held in Sandton that the Three-Streams Model is critical if the country is to seriously adapt and thrive in the new world of work.
Ramaphosa delivered the keynote address at the 2023 Basic Education Sector Lekgotla at the Sandton Convention Centre on Thursday under the theme: “Equipping Learners with Knowledge and Skills for a Changing World in the Context of COVID-19”.
The Three-Streams Model, considered a silver bullet to the dearth of skills in South Africa, offers the Technical Vocational and Technical Occupational pathways added to the academic pathway.
The curriculum shift towards the Three Stream Model owes its birth to the 2011 National Development Plan (NDP) policy’s call for differentiated pathways in the basic education sector.
Ramaphosa said the skills that South Africa needs, the jobs that can grow the economy, and most importantly, the avenues for entrepreneurship that are so sorely needed, can best be achieved by increasing learner access to Technical and Vocational subjects.
”I am pleased to hear about the progress that we are making in institutionalising the three-stream model. I understand that various Technical Vocational specialisations have already been introduced in more than 550 schools, and a growing number of schools are piloting the subjects in the Technical Occupational stream,” Ramaphosa said.
Some of the subjects include Agriculture, Maritime and Nautical Science, Electrical, Civil and Mechanical Technologies, among others.
”These are all vocations our economy sorely needs. They are the kind of vocations that we need to promote and develop if we are to tackle unemployment,” he added.
The high numbers of unemployed young people is, he said, something no country can afford, but it is even worse if they are also not in education or training.
Ramaphosa said inclusive growth and shared prosperity can only be achieved when more people are working.
If the economy is not creating enough jobs at scale to support the growing numbers of unemployed, Ramaphosa said the country must come up with creative thinking and innovatively.
”We have to look beyond issues of labour absorption alone, and into what are the best ways to open up new pathways for employment and self-employment. This starts with developing skills for a modern and dynamic workforce through basic education,” he said.
He said the greater the scope of basic education streams, the better learners’ prospects are for securing employment and for self-employment after school.
”By way of example, we will all be aware of the national effort to transition our economy along a low-carbon, climate change resilient pathway, and our move towards cleaner sources of energy,” Ramaphosa said.
Powering a clean energy revolution and pursuing sustainable development requires artisans, mechanics, green equipment manufacturers and operators, waste entrepreneurs, technicians, sustainable farming practitioners and a host of others.
He told delegates that never has the imperative been greater for the country to forge ahead with curricula that are responsive to the changing needs of economy and society.
The learning losses from the COVID-19 pandemic period will take some time to recoup, Ramaphosa encouraged the department to forge ahead with the comprehensive curriculum recovery plan.
‘’Basic education is the foundation of a nation’s development, progress and prosperity,’’ he said, adding that through the Sanitation Appropriate for Education programme, known as SAFE, the government has so far been able to construct 50,000 sanitation facilities at 2,388 schools.
A further 15,000 appropriate toilets were constructed at 1,047 schools as part of the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure Delivery Initiative (ASIDI).
All remaining SAFE sanitation projects at approximately 1,000 schools are scheduled for completion in the next financial year.
He said despite the impact of lockdowns, school closures, learning disruption, curriculum trimming, rotational timetables and numerous hurdles, the 2022 matric learners excelled recording an 80.1% pass rate.
This year’s results, particularly in the performance of learners from poorer schools, show the deepening impact of education spending and the social wage more broadly.
INSIDE EDUCATION