Investing in education
International exposure builds skills in the province
The Free State has outdone all other provinces in terms of its investment in education and some innovative intiatives have been put in place, with Free State students now studying in countries across the world.
Premier Ace Magashule said at the Free State Global Investors Trade Bridge that education remains central to the province’s development agenda and called for investment in human capital to develop a skilled labour force capable of responding to the dynamic and demanding economic environment and labour markets.
“Free State province, in line with South African foreign policy perspectives, has co-operation with more than 35 countries and provinces throughout the world. As a result of these partnerships, we have managed to put huge investment into education — a move that has earned us admiration from across the country. We thank all our partners who have made this possible and encourage you to invest more to ensure that you leave your business models in the hands of these students that you have trained,” he said.
“We have 7 000 bursary holders in various tertiary institutions across the country — a first in South Africa. In foreign universities, we have 202 medical students studying in Cuba, 38 students studying medicine, civil engineering and international trade in Turkey, 277 students in China doing various courses including agriculture, 103 in India studying pharmaceuticals and information technology, four leave for Germany this month to study for their master’s in geology and another 50 are going to Germany in 2016 to do artisan-related courses. Another 100 students leave for Russia next year to study various courses, including medicine.
“Given the scope of our investment in undergraduate studies and higher education, our focus will be on maintaining these students at national and international institutions for the next two years. We envisage establishing the Free State Research and Development Institute using the skills and expertise of these students whom we have funded.
“We are already benefitting from capacity development for local and provincial government officials, women’s co-operatives, leadership training, training of entrepreneurs and exposure to, among others, the Indian entrepreneurship style and standards,” said Magashule.
Come, whoever you are!
Two representatives from Turkey were present at the trade bridge — Ipek University’s Director of International Office Omer Becerik and Assistant Professor Mehmet Argin, Associate Dean of Mevlana University’s Engineering Faculty.
Becerik said: “Turkey pays real attention to the social sciences and information. We are also encouraging more cultures and countries to [come to] our campus, affording us the opportunities to extend our reach.”
Argin supported this, and stressed the importance of having an education — and not allowing a rural lifestyle to prohibit this. “It is very important to raise students from poverty through education. We are very happy to accommodate more students from the Free State and help their development and growth. Come, whoever you are.”
Free State MEC for Education Tate Makgoe stressed the importance of the trade bridge in terms of education, saying it provided a very important networking session between the province’s youth and various educational institutions.
“The countries we have been working with see education as critical to their development — as we do. We have students studying pharmaceuticals in India, engineering and mechanics in Germany. The students in Germany are working through a technical school and study for three days and work for two a week — for which they get paid. They disassemble Porsches, for example, and have to put them together again. They are in environments much more advanced in terms of technology.
“The moment they return to South Africa, they can move on to starting their own businesses or working for leading manufacturers like Volkswagen and BMW. They will be saving the country in terms of for- eign reserves, as we won’t have to call [in] people from Germany to do the specialised stuff.
“They will also replace engineers dropping out of the pool through such aspects as retirement.
“Not everyone is an academic or wants to be. We desperately need more engineers and skilled artisans. There should be no disparity in how people perceive a technical versus academic qualification,” said Makgoe.
“Our matriculation pass rate results continue their steady improvement and i n 2014, 50 schools obtained a 100% pass rate, 19 of which are from disadvantaged township areas.
“Judging by the quality of students we are getting to send overseas for training, underlying this would be [the fact] that the programmes we have implemented are working. These include the hostel project, increased access to no-fee schools and the programmes [put] in place to improve teaching standards.”