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The question of what health system South Africans want is not a rhetorical question; it requires us to seriously consider the current state of South Africa’s decaying health services. Words like accessibility, equity and efficiency in health care should no longer remain mere aphorisms. As we move towards decisive political and economic times, it is of utmost importance to evaluate what kinds of policies in the field of education and training are progressive enough and what kinds of research will best be able to serve that policy development.  In the context of evaluating that situation it will be important to evaluate the significance of past policies that were often informed by good intentions but, more often than not, resulted in less than satisfactory outcomes. What were the failures of understanding that have disadvantaged many South Africans once again? The current need is therefore not only to critically assess the legacy of apartheid education and training, but also to review the legacy of post-1994 reforms – and to be bold enough to recognise the strengths and limitations of the roads travelled. In that context the Human Resources Development Review 2008 is a major milestone. Along with the companion volume published in 2003, it provides a unique opportunity for taking stock at this critical juncture in the field of human resource development and in the context of the social and economic development of South Africa. HRD and fiscal austerity This is a story of human resources development (HRD) in the context of a policy of fiscal austerity derived from models promoted by the World Bank and the IMF, and largely in line with the guidelines of structural adjustment policies so common in other parts of Africa. It is the story of how that policy project has engaged with the rhetoric of democracy, poverty alleviation and redress, while systematically embracing the often contradictory policies of the free market, growth and global competitiveness. In the field of education and training that ambiguity, long identified in third world education policies, created a tension between focussing on (a) the skill needs of the modern economy and (b) the needs to develop massbased learning systems that address poverty and the economic upliftment of the poor. In the first place it is noted that the rate of growth has outstripped the capacity of supplyside institutions to provide the necessary skills in fields as diverse as pharmacy and IT; engineering and teaching; tourism and the public service. This has created what Kraak calls ‘expansion saturation’ which has had the effect of placing limits on the quantitative and qualitative expansion of industry. Lack of HRD funding and impeded growth The brake on funding for HRD has thus influenced the growth and competitiveness of industry at a crucial time of expansion, but it has been equally influential in putting the brake on the provision of services to the poor. The public schooling system, healthcare services, the provision of Early Childhood Education and Adult Education and Training have all been starved of resources in the quest for fiscal discipline. In short the collection highlights the conundrum of international competitiveness and growth versus development/poverty alleviation and (un)employment, and highlights the declining share of the budget allocated to education and training at a time when one would have thought this would be a key focus of investment. This has resulted in a faltering public education system and a decline in enrolments at FET colleges despite their designated flagship status in the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA). What gives this collection a special place in current research is its attention to the detail of policy struggles within that broad framework. Recurring themes The themes that recur are the lack of racial, gender and class mobility and access to economically useful skills, the lack of capacity of the system to produce relevant skills for the private and public sector, and the tensions between public and private provision in many sectors. Above all, there is the question of how policy should be redefined to accommodate the needs of poverty reduction and redress. The collection expands our notions of the development of human resources (HRD) beyond the traditional industrial and business sector which privileges skills development for growth and global market competitiveness, to HRD as part of the public responsibility of government to ensure a workable state that will provide a social democratic basis for a democratic/caring/welfare society. The focus on ABET, ECD, public schooling, and FET colleges indicates the need for focused research in the future. The collection presents us all with the enormous challenges for research, analysis, policy and political action. | | Key areas of focus in HRD Review 2008 | | | | Science and Technology and Enterprise Training
This is an area that is easily understood in terms of the ‘needs of industry', even if the challenge to produce sufficient skilled workers is significant, the need to expand such facilities to meet the needs of the poor and make these areas relevant to the needs of poverty eradication is an extreme challenge. FET colleges/adult education and training/national skills development strategy/training for Public Works / learnerships/SETAs
The tensions between the Department of Education and the Department of Labour over the provision of facilities in these areas is highlighted as a cause for concern that has not been addressed significantly to date. Issues of access, curriculum reform, recapitalisation, relevance of training to industry and/or to poverty alleviation are all central research concerns. Adult Basic Education and Training and Early Childhood Development (ABET/ECD)
Chapters on these areas mark a significant addition to the HRD stable and demonstrate a wider definition of the field of HRD, taking into account sectors that are not directly linked to economic policy issues. This wider definition links to the wider development goals now seen to be vital to HRD, something that was rather neglected in the past. Higher education
The effects of policies borrowed rather hastily from around the world have resulted in a major restructuring of this sector. This institutional change, giving rise to mergers and amalgamations, and the whole attempt to assess and measure academic work in line with qualification frameworks and quality assessment measures, have had a significant impact on the nature of academic work and student experience. Other
A range of other sectors is also engaged with, including training in the public sector, the financial services sector, veterinary skills, pharmacy, social work, engineering and public sector training. | |
Peter Kallaway recently retired as professor of education at the University of the Western Cape. Human Resources Development Review 2008: Education, Employment and Skills in South Africa, edited by Andre Kraak and Karen Press can be downloaded for free, or ordered from www.hsrcpress.ac.za
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