Teachers must go where sent - Motshekga

2012-02-17 22:28

Cape Town - Public school teachers have to go where they are sent if they want to remain employed, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said on Friday.

"The principle we have to follow is that you go where the work is," she said during a human development ministerial cluster briefing at Parliament.

"If you can't move, it means you are saying that you can't work."

The next step would be to retrench, she said.

Motshekga said her department was concerned over the number and quality of passes in mathematics and physical science, particularly given the specialised skills the country needed for its drive towards industrialisation, economic growth, and sustainable job creation.

The department was also worried about the availability of higher education and workplace opportunities for matriculants.

"While we know electricians are desperately needed by the economy, especially within the local government sector, a key challenge continues to be finding workplace experience opportunities for learner artisans to enable them to gain the experiential learning required to obtain a trade certificate," she said.

A recent National Skills Accord between government, business, and labour was a major breakthrough as it included a commitment by business to absorb Further Education and Training (FET) college graduates.

To successfully address its human capital development shortfall, South Africa required high-level skilled human capital, Motshekga said.

The department of science and technology was developing a human capital development strategy, which focused on research, scholarship, and innovation to increase the number and improve the equity profile of honours, master's, and doctoral graduates, and post-doctoral fellows.

"The primary intention is to promote science and technology through a range of programmes," she said.

- SAPA