Skills development is critical to the economy and is non-negotiable. This, according to Minister of Trade and Industry Dr Rob Davies, who addressed the gathering at the launch of Lesedi Skills Development Academy in Atlantis on Tuesday 24 April.
The academy was established to address the need for skilled artisans and to close the skills gap in the nuclear and broader energy sector as well as associated industries.
Davies said it was increasingly evident that as a requirement to get any industrial job one needed to have skills. He said at all levels of employment one now requires to be skilled. Government is aware that skills development in the past was limited to the minority and that the majority had less access, yet it is a critical requirement for the majority to get jobs.
“This is the reason why every time we engage with business we insist on skills development which is a non-negotiable for all,” Davies said. “To underpin the importance of skills development government launched the Youth Empowerment Service Programme. This programme aims to improve the grim employment outlook for young job seekers by offering work opportunities and therefore inclusion in the economy.”
He indicated that business agreed to partner and create 300 000 internships per year for the unemployed youth for the next three years.
“Every bit counts as a means to address the issue of skills development and unemployment,” Davies concluded. “We therefore cannot compromise if we need more people to participate meaningfully in the economy. The skills that the academy develops will assist the Atlantis people to tap into the proposed Atlantis Special Economic Zone among others. The zone is anticipated to be designated by the end of 2018.”
The Chief Executive Officer of Lesedi Nuclear Services, Francis Carruther, said to date the academy had been used for the sole requirement of Lesedi Nuclear Services, and had employed 35 learners at various stages of training within their respective programme. Thirty-three of these learners were from Atlantis.
Lesedi was established in 2015 to address challenges in providing skilled artisans with appropriate training and qualifications to meet the ability to execute projects. The learners engaged in apprenticeship, learnerships and short skills programmes. The learners are aren’t just adequately equipped as skilled artisans, but enskilled at the highest levels of Occupational Health Safety and Environmental, Technical Knowledge and Skills, Human Performance Tools and Foreign Material Exclusion — elements that are not part of conventional artisanal training.
