South Africa to send 100 students to China for scarce skills training

The government plans to send 100 students to China for “scarce and critical skills” training in 2025.

Higher education minister Nobuhle Nkabane said on Monday the initiative aimed to equip students with “scarce and critical skills of the future” in technology to support South Africa's evolving job market.

Nkabane shared this development reflecting on her recent visit to China as part of President Cyril Ramaphosa's delegation at the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (Focac).

“We have a longstanding co-operation with China in higher education and training which continues to grow and support South Africa’s knowledge and skills development.”

The programme was part of a broader strategy to address the skills mismatch in South Africa.

“Our engagements during this visit align with South Africa’s strategic goals regarding technological advancement and international collaboration in education. We will send about 100 students to China in the coming year to study scarce and critical skills of the future as we advance in the skills revolution towards addressing the skills mismatch.”

The initiative aligns with South Africa’s commitment to broadening access to learning opportunities.

“We are committed to fulfilling what has been said in the Freedom Charter: ‘Doors of learning and culture shall be open’, and we’ll make sure no-one is left behind, especially the children of the working and the poor,” she said.

The announcement comes in the wake of the Beijing Summit of Focac, where President Xi Jinping pledged further co-operation with Africa.

In his address, Xi noted: “China will implement with Africa more solidly the future of the Africa vocational education co-operation plan, establish together an engineering technology academy and build 10 Luban workshops. We will provide 60,000 training opportunities to Africa, mainly for women and youths. We will launch with Africa a cultural silk road programme as well as an initiative of co-operation on innovation in radio, TV and audio and visual programmes.”

During the summit, Ramaphosa and Xi also announced an elevation of their bilateral relations to an all-round strategic co-operative partnership.

“It is clear relations between South Africa and China have entered a new era of opportunity. Our visit has strengthened trade and investment ties and cemented our shared commitment to grow our economy, create jobs and advance prosperity for the people of our two countries,” Ramaphosa said.

Bilateral trade between the two countries totalled R692bn last year, underscoring the economic ties.

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