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Skills Inequality in South Africa |
04 June 2012. I write this article out of concern that the national debate has shifted to cosmetic band-aid fixes for problems instead of getting to the heart of the underlying causes, and working on those.
Although there are some noteworthy exceptions, by and large wage inequalities are caused by skills inequality. On average, accountants earn more than those with only a matric. Sure, over the short-term people are sometimes overlooked for reasons other than their skill, but over the long-term the level of skill somebody has almost always wins out.
Those calling for nationalisation & the redistribution of wealth are often well-intentioned; and I share with them the aim of giving more people the opportunity to share in the wealth of our great country, and indeed in the wealth of the world.
BUT without closing the skills gap, wage inequalities will persist no matter what other government policies are implemented. You can redistribute wealth as much as you want, redistribute land, nationalise companies, but still those with higher skills will earn more and accummulate wealth faster. There is no workable system which rewards people with more if they are adding less value. There is no lasting solution to economic inequalities other than uplifting the skills of people.
Once we understand the above, we can focus all our energy on the one thing which does work, and that is upskilling people. I don't have all the answers, but here are some ideas:
We urgently need to figure out what's wrong with our schools. It is a national tragedy that last year 69% of grade 3 pupils did not achieve the required level of literacy for that grade, and "SA performed at or near the bottom of virtually every global and regional ranking of literacy in which it participated." Most of these kids are doomed to a life of poverty - the fact is that kids are at their most malleable up to about the age of 9, and its very difficult to undo the damage after that age.
We need to upskill people already working & the unemployed (bearing in mind that a lot of learning takes place on the job, so getting the unemployed into a job is critical). Government has done some good work putting some programs in place already, but these efforts need to be intensified.
Other than their love, the greatest gift my parents gave me was an ethos of hard work & delaying gratification. Inculcating, through our actions as well as our words, in our children the ability to delay gratification and the importance of education, are the biggest pieces of the puzzle.
This isn't an easy path - I know, I have spent many years of my life studying, and still do, but the rewards are immense. For the sake of the advancement of ourselves and our great nation, let's walk this path together.
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