Higher Education and Training Minister Dr Blade Nzimande launched the Labour Market Intelligence Partnership (LMIP) project, which is being led by the HSRC, in Pretoria this morning. The project will be the basis for excellence in education and skills and a growing economy for all.
Speaking at the launch, Minister Nzimande said, “Put simply, this project aims to set up systems for reliable data indicating skills needs, supply and demand in our labour market in a manner that will enable our country, including government and business to plan better for human resources development needs of our country.
“The LMIP research project that we are launching therefore marks an important step towards these ends in terms of its focus on contributing towards the creation of a credible labour market intelligence framework – the establishment of a functional interface that will ensure better information gathering, analysis, and overall systems synergy in pursuit of a skills development agenda that is developmental, forward-looking, and embedded in empirical analysis of systems challenges and opportunities. It will provide information that is crucial to all our post school systems and to all sections of the labour market itself.”
The research on the LMIP has been organised in terms of the following six (6) themes:
- Theme One: Labour market analysis, framework, data, and information systems
- Theme Two: Skills forecasting: the supply and demand model
- Theme Three: Selected sectoral analyses
- Theme Four: Reconfiguring the Post-School Sector
- Theme Five: Pathways through education and training and into the labour market
- Theme Six: Understanding changing artisanal and occupational identities and milieus
Responding to the Minister’s announcement, HSRC CEO Dr Olive Shisana said, ” I want to express my appreciation to Minister Nzimande and the Department of Higher Education and Training for acknowledging the role of research in the production of new knowledge to address the need in South Africa for an improved system of labour market analysis and planning.
“I appreciate your confidence in the HSRC to lead a consortium to undertake research to support the establishment of a credible institutional mechanism for skills planning. This will contribute to the development of a skilled and capable workforce for an inclusive growth path. I understand this is a unique partnership between government and the research community and I am told that this research partnership represents the largest investment for research relating to skills development globally. Minister, this demonstrates your commitment to use evidence in policy making. This is welcome.”