(1)Considering that the current unemployment rate is 34,5% and that most of the recently listed critical skills emanate from the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), how will his department encourage the uptake of occupations in the specified fields;
(2) (a)(i) what initiatives are in place to raise awareness around the employment opportunities in the STEM field and (ii) how will the initiatives be mainstreamed to all structures of higher education and (b) how will the budget of his department be adjusted to offer funding opportunities for studies geared at the STEM occupations?