44 LAST WORD
Teach a trade
“ Give a man a fish , and you feed him for a day . Teach a man to fish , and you feed him for a lifetime .”
“ The country sits with a substantial number of people that are unqualified particularly in plumbing .”
The most meritorious of all , is to anticipate charity by preventing poverty ; namely , to assist the reduced person , either by a considerable gift or loan of money , or by teaching him / her a trade , or by putting them in the way of business , so that they may earn an honest livelihood and not be forced to the dreadful alternative of holding up their hand for charity .
The reference to charity , which is a noble attitude to have , is unsustainable overall . Our government prides itself on ‘ social grants ’ which is charity from the taxpayer , and which now stands at 27 million – more than half the population . Accepting that Covid contributed about half to this number to be a short-term measure is admirable but not sustainable . A fact already stated by the Minister of Finance . ( By referring to social grants I exclude the genuine grants that are paid out .)
So , in using the fish expression , we come to the real issue ; are we teaching people to fish ? Our oversupply of graduates with general degrees – so broad that they are pretty much no use to anyone – and lack of qualified artisans or worse , poorly trained artisans indicates we are not doing a particularly decent job . This comment excludes those colleges and training companies lead by the likes of Harambee and others who are doing excellent work in ‘ teaching people to fish .’
The issue sits with the DHET who fails to respond to polite requests for information as to why an artisan body is formed without one artisan at the main table ! Queries as to the results of the ‘ Decade of the Artisan ’ – a DHET initiative – still remains unanswered .
The country sits with a substantial number of people that are unqualified , particularly in plumbing , but may well have limited knowledge having learned about digging trenches and laying pipes , but do not desire , or do not even know that they can become qualified through the various processes like RPL and such . Funding is available and certainly enough colleges to train people to be fed for a lifetime .
Without statutory registration , the consumer , who incorrectly goes for the cheapest price , is none the wiser . We need to challenge government , especially DHET , to focus more on trades and reduce the charity aspect .
So let us make 2022 , together with DHET , a year that teaches people to fish and not continue to allow them to wallow in charity . PA
Rory Macnamara
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www . plumbingafrica . co . za @ plumbingonline @ plumbingonline @ PlumbingAfricaOnline February 2022 Volume 27 I Number 12