Speech by the Premier of the Northern Cape, Ms Sylvia Lucas, on the occasion of the Provincial Launch of the Human Resource Development Council, 06 March 2014 at the Mittah Seperepere Convention Centre in Kimberley.

Programme Director
Members of the Executive Council
Executive Mayor, Mr K D Molusi
Distinguished Guests
Invited guests from various sectors, Academia, Research Organisations, Higher Education Institutions, the Skills Sector, Professional Bodies, and the Youth.

Ladies and Gentlemen

It gives us great pleasure to Launch the Provincial Human Resource Development Council to respond to the skills challenges faced by our country and province in particular.

The Launch of the Human Resource Development Council is a milestone development that will certainly respond to our needs and contribute to the development of our people. The Council has been established with the express aim of increasing responsiveness of education, skills and training to the social and economic development agenda.

Furthermore, it also seeks to address quality issues in education and in skills development by addressing skills shortages in priority areas.

Our country’s Human Resource Development Strategy- HRD-SA, notes that;

“HRD refers to formal and explicit activities that will enhance the ability of all individuals to reach their full potential.

By enhancing the skills, knowledge and abilities of individuals, Human Resource Development serves to improve the productivity of people in their areas of work – whether these are in formal or informal settings. Increased productivity and improvements to the skills base in a country supports economic development, as well as social development”

Ladies and Gentlemen, this strategy suggests, that Human Resource Development is important not only for achieving a growing and employment creating economy, but also for us to begin to address poverty alleviation, inequality and underdevelopment.

In this day and age, with increasing global economic uncertainty and massive changes in the nature of competition in global markets, technological change and other manifestations of globalization, learning and knowledge have reached new heights of importance.

It is therefore in this context, that Human Resource Development has been identified as a vital instrument in all government strategies to accelerate development.

Ladies and Gentlemen

Generally, our country is experiencing unprecedented levels of skills shortages that are desperately needed for economic growth and the development of the country.

The unavailability of scarce and critical skills remains a major constraint to economic growth and development. Our priority is to focus on improving the quality of basic education and to create a pipeline into tertiary institutions which, in turn, increases the output to provide a sustainable pool of skills needed for economic growth and development.

Programme Director, the Provincial Human Resource Development Council that we are launching today is clear on the important role that government and other key stakeholders have to play.

This structure will facilitate conditions that promote the optimal participation of all stakeholders in the planning, stewardship, monitoring and evaluation of Human Resource Development activities in the province.

It will further:

• Provide a medium in the province for constant dialogue and consensus - building among stakeholders on all matters related to human resource development.
• Identify skills bottlenecks and recommending appropriate solutions to unblock such bottlenecks.
• Mobilise senior leadership in organised business, government, organised labour, civil society and professional bodies, the education and training and science technology institutions to address the provincial HRD priorities in a coordinated and targeted way.
• Advise EXCO on the need for and implementation of human resource development policies and strategies;
• Providing a medium for constant dialogue and consensus-building among stakeholders on all matters related to human resource development;
• Identifying skills blockages and to recommend appropriate solutions to unblock such constraints and identify the institutional structures and leaders who are the primary partners to implement the proposed solutions to remove blockages;
• Commission research in the field of human resource development;
• Encouraging organized business, civil society, government and organized labour to invest in education and training, and to take responsibility for human resource development issues within their areas of competency;
• Promote knowledge management and benchmarking at enterprise and national levels with a view to improving the effectiveness of human resource development;
• Oversee continual monitoring and evaluation of all aspects of the human resource development strategy, to be implemented by implementers or project owners;
• Lead an effective programme of advocacy and communication to build support and gain buy-in for the HRDSA’s objectives and to ensure effective feedback from, and consultation with stakeholders;
• Mobilise senior leadership in organised business, government, organised labour, civil society, professional bodies, the education and training and science and technology Institutions to address national HRD priorities in a more coordinated and targeted way.

Honoured Guests, the establishment of the Provincial Human Resource Development Council is seen as one of the key institutional arrangement to implement the HRD Strategy SA and the provincial HRD strategy.  It comes at a time when the Provincial HRD Strategy 2006-2014 is under review and we hope that it will play a meaningful contribution towards the revised strategy.

The revised strategy will be guided by the NDP, the HRD Strategy for SA, the National Skills Development Strategy 111, the New Growth Path (NGP), the Industrial Policy Action Plan, the Skills and Youth Accords and other skills development related legislation to ensure our strategy drives sustainable growth in the province.

We are encouraged to note that the HRD Council will further ensure that there is alignment of the provincial skills plan to the SIPs earmarked for the province.

As indicated in the State of the Nation Address by President Jacob Zuma “Education is a ladder out of poverty for millions of our people” and the Council will have to ensure that the citizens of this province are educated in the relevant scarce and critical skills that can lead to a qualification and ensure a decent and sustainable job.     

I thank you