Africa: The day resumed with Commissions reporting back to the plenary. Reports outlined some of the challenges at Colleges and proposed solutions on how to overcome the issues at their respective colleges.
In the main, solutions were driven by seeking ways how to source and form partnerships with industries.
A few of the issues raised by delegates were that TVET colleges do not own most of the land, and this posed a challenge in improving or adding building structures and the development of lecturers. Also, among the concerns raised was that some of the colleges overlooked lecturer development and concentrated mostly on students.
A call has been made to industries to partner with colleges and improves, among other things, infrastructure.
On Gender Based-Violence and Femicide:
In his address, Deputy Minister Mr Buti Manamela reminded delegates that President Ramaphosa signed into law measures that are aimed at strengthening the national fight against Gender-Based Violence and Femicide (GBVF).
“In their approach, these measures are victim-centred and focus on combating this dehumanizing scourge”, said Deputy Minister.
Giving an example, the Deputy Minister said the new Criminal and Related Matters Amendment Act 12 of 2021 has been put in place to amend various laws that address GBV and offences that are committed against vulnerable people.
Deputy Minister assured the delegates that the department is strengthening the initiatives in addressing the challenges of Gender-Based Violence and Femicide while bearing in mind that it needs other institutions for support. The advocacy pillar of the policy framework speaks to the importance of changing of mindsets of people about GBVF.
He further made a call to colleges in the sector to continue to strengthen their partnerships with civil society and Chapter 9 institutions, as this will complement what colleges are already doing by bringing in the expertise and skills of these key role players.
While setting the tone for the discussion Deputy Director-General for Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Ms Nomboniso Gasa added that one of the realities is that GBVF affects everyone from the time a young person enters college, when they get into the industry and to employment.
