Development Talk

Thousands of matriculants across the country are waiting anxiously for their final exam results from last year to be released. This is a crucial step in the process of development for any young adult as the future of their education will be based on these very results.

An interesting article was posted in the Mail&Guardian recently highlighting the importance of knowledge and innovation. It spoke about the impact of education on the development of a country and compared South Africa’s statistics to those of the other Brics nations that include Brazil, Russia, India and China. It covers the strategy of a development document put together by the National Planning Committee. According to the strategy titled “the 2030 vision”, emphasis must be placed on innovation  and stems from a belief that the development of knowledge at tertiary level is key to the overall economic performance of a country.

This development is further emphasized by goals of doubling the number of scientists, quadrupling the number of doctoral graduates as well as increasing the number of doctoral staff at universities from the current 34% to 75%. The interesting point to note here is the length of time that this plan has been given to take place when compared to the success and progress of a country like Brazil who have put similar measures in place to spark technological advancement in their country rather than just continuing to lose its intellectual capital to first world nations.

With South Africa being the most junior member of the Brics collective, its clear that we will be needing to punch way above our weight if we plan on becoming a giant amongst the developing nations of the world. Brazil and China’s economic growth is proof that education is instrumental to development and that there is no reason why it should take a country with a much older and established range of quality tertiary institutions so long to obtain the targets they have set out.

Below is a link to the full article on the M&G website:

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-12-09-where-the-2030-vision-blurs