Deputy Chair, Deputy Minister, inevitably, knowledge must stand at the centre of the processes of change, if we are to avoid undertaking the catastrophic action resulting from the state of ignorance and limited knowledge.
We would like to urge the Minister and the Deputy Minister to take South Africans into their confidence on at least two issues: Firstly, the actual plans regarding the Setas and the shortage of skills in the country; and secondly, the merged universities and technikons with regard to access to institutions of higher learning and the intended outcome for merging these institutions.
The roots of unequal educational opportunities are extremely deep, and we are mindful that higher education alone cannot redress the social imbalances that appear to threaten the future of our country. Deracialising education and education transformation move at a snail's pace, because we are still content to refer to institutions of learning as previously disadvantaged and others as privileged. In his budget speech a few days ago the Minister of Higher Education and Training said, "Setas are ideally pleased to assist educational institutions to access workplace experience for students."
We believe that the implementation of Setas needs to be reorganised and simplified, as well as strengthened. We also recognise that the Seta system has been inefficient and too slow. We therefore support the Seta reforms, but believe that this should not be done in an autocratic manner.
Unemployment perpetuates and deepens poverty and exacerbates social ills in the extreme. We acknowledge that one of the main causes of unemployment in our country is that our labour force is inadequately and insufficiently skilled. On the other hand, the decrease in education performance comes at a time that the economy requires more skilled workers and, indeed, workers with highly specialised skills.
Lack of good quality education for the majority of children in our country reinforces disparities linked to wealth and gender, and undermines prospects for skills development and economic growth. The Minister has been quoted again as saying the schools should not be blamed for the country's lack of skills.
To say quality education is no longer suitable will create a generation of youth trapped in insecure, low-wage employment or long-term unemployment, with attendant consequences for political and social stability. This has also been observed by Mr Brown, the former UK Prime Minister in his Education for All report.
In conclusion, Cope urges the department to accelerate the development of the master skill list in order to have a reliable knowledge of skill shortages in our country for effective planning. It really does not help not to know the real critical skills needed for suitable growth, development and equity. I thank you.