Publications
Partners
I have been away from this platform for a while now and the recent stats on the country’s youth skills prompted this post.
Following a number of interviews I had on a number of radio stations about our accelerated skills development programs, I have come to the realization that skills are not valued as much in this country.
This was cemented in my mind by a recent event at an Internet Café when a man walked in and asked the operator of the Café for a certificate. I was under the impression that the guy had somehow forgotten the piece of paper until it became clear that he was buying a certificate for something he was never trained for, for R500 and he even asked for a discount.
I my mind I started picturing a forklift riding into a wall, scaffoldings collapsing and people getting seriously hurt, prompting a commission of inquiry and painting the employers as negligent and use the findings to justify an unjust wage increase demand a couple of months later, for the same employees that bought their certificates and in essence, caused the accident. (Gross generalization.)
I have heard friends of mine, on numerous occasions saying that they had a rough upbringing and will ensure that their children are spared the hardships. They continued to spoil their kids and never investing in their education or training. I don’t really watch TV so when I heard of this TV show on which kids spilt custard and burned currency, a criminal offence, I went to YouTube and what I found and heard was just shocking. Parents taking on loans so their kids can brag about money they do not have, kids washing their hands using premium whisky, the kind that retails well over R1000.
I cannot help but wonder what happens when they realise that the conduct is driving them backwards.
Skills development is the one thing that can pull us from this trend that affects us all. As a tax payer, it infuriates me when I hear a pensioner or social grant receiver, on national TV, proudly saying that she has no choice but to buy that specific shoe brand and t-shirt so that her child can fit in. What about paying for that course?
“Why bother. The government will provide,” some say.
Nothing is ever free. If it is, you are the product.
My daughter is only a month old and I have already started planning her future simply because I don’t want her to struggle to get a job. I never in my life applied for a job because I invested in skills development when I was in high school. In my life, I only attended one interview with then VP of a prominent mining company that resulted in a position being created for me.
I was the least qualified in the department and capable of competing with my qualified colleagues, a few months later, as an Environmental Coordinator and everything I knew was self-taught. I pursued my qualification from within until I dropped out when I resigned from the mine to start my own company having been an entrepreneur from a very young age.
It was a shock when instead of letting me go, my employer instead decided to employ me as a consultant, on contract, I obviously said no but accepted an order to complete a specific task that I was skilled on.
I had invested in my own skills development and often found myself working for free so I could get the skill that I required. Yes, I was the product.
I am still learning, on a daily basis and I still do offer my time in exchange for skills for free, while running two companies one of which is a service provider to three prominent mining companies while the other is an accelerated skills development company focused on the development of software engineering skills for international certification. The latter having been featured on a number of radio stations due to its impact on empowerment.
Following the interviews, I realised that people want everything for free. But who can blame them. It was instilled in their minds from an early age and some parents continue to instil the notion of self-entitlement on their kids.
How do you expect to get premium training, from international tutors as well as job placement for free? What would stop you from quitting when the going gets tough?
India tops the list of freelancers in the world followed by the United States, Philippines, Ukraine with Pakistan wrapping off the top five. The majority of the service providers are self-taught and operate from their homes, while in SA we are still buying certificates on the handling of a shovel. Some have received training from skills development agencies, some of which are our training partners, and have made tremendous advances in the tech world.
Nothing is for free and until such time that SA realises that, we shouldn’t be expected to make much in terms of poverty alleviation.
Random thoughts!
