Move to top up water skills
AS INSTITUTIONS of higher learning across the country contend with floods of students eager to study in the wake of the announcement of free education by President Jacob Zuma, a question that begs serious consideration is that of career choices prospective students are making.
Chaotic scenes at some of our institutions of higher learning point to the fact that our youth are hungry for education and keen on changing their lives for the better. However, the reality is that acquiring education does not necessarily translate into securing employment.
The biggest determining factor is the extent to which the acquired skills are needed both in the private and public sectors. Current unemployment statistics paint a bleak picture for job seekers, especially the youth.
To get South Africa on the right economic trajectory, we need to address skills shortages. It is bizarre that an economy that prides itself as the leader on the continent should rely on importing skills from elsewhere.
South Africa desperately needs to produce an army of graduates with skills. The catalyst and the backbone for this envisaged growth remains water. However much we plan for our prosperity as a country, the truth is that without water we won’t move an inch. Water is the be-all and endall for job creation and economic transformation.
It is for this reason that the Department of Water and Sanitation is assisting young people to pursue careers in the water sector. The programmes the department is implementing to draw youth into the water sector are Baswa Le Meetsi, the Aqua endure and the SA Youth Water Prize (SAYWP) Competition. Last year the SAYWP saw three youths from Limpopo represent South Africa at the Stockholm International Water Institute in Stockholm, Sweden.
This exposed them to ideas and careers in the water sector so that they are better informed and inspired to find solutions to issues confronting the country, especially water scarcity.
It is thus our hope that the youth flooding institutions of higher learning consider the various careers in the water sector.
HOSIA SITHOLE Communicator, Department of Water and Sanitation (Gauteng Region)