Nzimande allays grade 12 'anxiety' ahead of university enrolment season
Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande has cautioned grade 12 pupils against choosing conventional university courses.
On Thursday Nzimande raised concerns about the high rate of unemployment, which he believes is in part linked to the redundancy of skills.
He briefed media in Pretoria on the department’s efforts to save the academic year following disruptions by the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown.
“Today, I am launching the latest National List of Occupations in High Demand (OIHD) in South Africa. The list reflects the work undertaken by the DHET, through the Labour Market Intelligence research programme, to support human resource development in the country,” he said.
“This list is updated every two years and marks an important step towards helping us understand better the needs of the labour market and signals opportunities where our students and graduates are likely to stand a better chance of finding employment.”
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Nzimande briefed media on Thursday on further measures to be implemented to save the 2020 academic year and preparations for the beginning of the 2021 academic year. The academic year took a knock in March when the country was placed under lockdown to curb the spread of Covid-19.
So far, the list has identified 345 occupations that are in high demand out of a total of 1 500 registered in the Organising Framework for Occupations.
Occupations considered high in demand include crop produce analysts, agricultural scientists, web developers, electrical engineers and mechatronic technicians.
“In launching the 2020 National List of Occupations in High Demand, I call upon our universities, our TVET Colleges and private education and training institutions as well as other training providers to use this list to inform their selection of programme offerings, their resource allocations and enrolment planning processes as well as the identification and development of new qualifications and programmes that are more responsive to the needs of the economy and society as a whole,” he added.
Due to Covid-19, the release of matric results has been delayed to the 23rd of February.
Nzimande further assured the class of 2020 that delays in the release of their results will not affect enrolment for the 2021 academic year.
“Following these engagements, it was concluded that the release of matric results in February 2021 does not necessitate an amendment of the 2021 academic calendar for TVET colleges as this will only affect students who would like to enrol for the Report 191 programme.”
"There's no need for anxiety.”
