S Africa eyeing Indian IT professionals, engineers, teachers
Friday November 18 2005 10:14 IST
PTI
NEW DELHI: In an effort to bridge technical skill shortage in their country, South Africa is eyeing Indian IT professionals, engineers and teachers, besides training cooperation in the field of public administration.
A high-level delegation from South Africa, which held discussions with senior Indian officials here, identified key areas where Indian expertise and talent are needed and a memorandum of understanding in this regard will be inked soon.
South Africa plans to recruit Indians from open market to address technical skills shortages in areas like education, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and health, Minister for public service and administration Geraldine Fraser Moleketi told reporters here.
The African country was also looking to rope in Indian public servants for training their South African counterparts as part of a capacity building programme, Moleketi, who led the delegation, said.
Indian public servants will take part in mentorship programmes, short-term exchange programmes to facilitate skill transfer and joint training sessions, she added.
"India is on an economic growth path and it is strategic to consider India to address our needs, she said.
Indian experts will also assist South Africa with the development of a framework for the evaluation of mathematics and science teachers to identify the gaps and devise training programmes, besides providing help to evaluate the curricula, she said.
In the field of information technology, both the countries agreed to establish a joint task team to undertake a strategic analysis of the South African ICT industry for human resources training and development.
In the first phase, the team comprising members from both the countries will propose a strategy for developing the ICT industry while in the second phase the African country will focus on recruitment of specific skilled personnel from India.
“The team, which will submit its report in six months, will identify the areas where we need Indian talent,” Moleketi said.
In the local government sector, a joint team will be established early next year to undertake exercises to identify the specific requirements of municipalities and prepare a mentorship programme, she said.
“We need project managers, financial managers, municipal managers and engineers to bridge the technical gaps,” she said.
The idea is to place Indian public servants in predominantly rural areas where they have experience in managing service delivery on a large scale, she said.
The country is also on the look out for quality doctors and all these aspects will cover the MoU to be signed in the next few weeks, the Minister said.
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